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diff --git a/41572.txt b/41572.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..daea3e8 --- /dev/null +++ b/41572.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15782 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Golden Bough (Third Edition, Vol. 4 of +12) by James George Frazer + + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no +restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under +the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or +online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license + + + +Title: The Golden Bough (Third Edition, Vol. 4 of 12) + +Author: James George Frazer + +Release Date: December 6, 2012 [Ebook #41572] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GOLDEN BOUGH (THIRD EDITION, VOL. 4 OF 12)*** + + + + + + The Golden Bough + + A Study in Magic and Religion + + By + + James George Frazer, D.C.L., LL.D., Litt.D. + + Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge + + Professor of Social Anthropology in the University of Liverpool + + Third Edition. + + Vol. IV. + + Part III + + The Dying God + + New York and London + + MacMillan and Co. + + 1911 + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +Preface. +Chapter I. The Mortality Of The Gods. +Chapter II. The Killing Of The Divine King. + § 1. Preference for a Violent Death. + § 2. Kings killed when their Strength fails. + § 3. Kings killed at the End of a Fixed Term. + § 4. Octennial Tenure of the Kingship. + § 5. Funeral Games. + § 6. The Slaughter of the Dragon. + § 7. Triennial Tenure of the Kingship. + § 8. Annual Tenure of the Kingship. + § 9. Diurnal Tenure of the Kingship. +Chapter III. The Slaying Of The King In Legend. +Chapter IV. The Supply Of Kings. +Chapter V. Temporary Kings. +Chapter VI. Sacrifice Of The King's Son. +Chapter VII. Succession To The Soul. +Chapter VIII. The Killing Of The Tree-Spirit. + § 1. The Whitsuntide Mummers. + § 2. Mock Human Sacrifices. + § 3. Burying the Carnival. + § 4. Carrying out Death. + § 5. Sawing the Old Woman. + § 6. Bringing in Summer. + § 7. Battle of Summer and Winter. + § 8. Death and Resurrection of Kostrubonko. + § 9. Death and Revival of Vegetation. + § 10. Analogous Rites in India. + § 11. The Magic Spring. +Note A. Chinese Indifference To Death. +Note B. Swinging As A Magical Rite. +Addenda. +Index. +Footnotes + + + + + + + [Cover Art] + +[Transcriber's Note: The above cover image was produced by the submitter +at Distributed Proofreaders, and is being placed into the public domain.] + + + + + +PREFACE. + + +With this third part of _The Golden Bough_ we take up the question, Why +had the King of the Wood at Nemi regularly to perish by the hand of his +successor? In the first part of the work I gave some reasons for thinking +that the priest of Diana, who bore the title of King of the Wood beside +the still lake among the Alban Hills, personated the great god Jupiter or +his duplicate Dianus, the deity of the oak, the thunder, and the sky. On +this theory, accordingly, we are at once confronted with the wider and +deeper question, Why put a man-god or human representative of deity to a +violent death? Why extinguish the divine light in its earthly vessel +instead of husbanding it to its natural close? My general answer to that +question is contained in the present volume. If I am right, the motive for +slaying a man-god is a fear lest with the enfeeblement of his body in +sickness or old age his sacred spirit should suffer a corresponding decay, +which might imperil the general course of nature and with it the existence +of his worshippers, who believe the cosmic energies to be mysteriously +knit up with those of their human divinity. Hence, if there is any measure +of truth in this theory, the practice of putting divine men and +particularly divine kings to death, which seems to have been common at a +particular stage in the evolution of society and religion, was a crude but +pathetic attempt to disengage an immortal spirit from its mortal envelope, +to arrest the forces of decomposition in nature by retrenching with +ruthless hand the first ominous symptoms of decay. We may smile if we +please at the vanity of these and the like efforts to stay the inevitable +decline, to bring the relentless revolution of the great wheel to a stand, +to keep youth's fleeting roses for ever fresh and fair; but perhaps in +spite of every disillusionment, when we contemplate the seemingly endless +vistas of knowledge which have been opened up even within our own +generation, many of us may cherish in our heart of hearts a fancy, if not +a hope, that some loophole of escape may after all be discovered from the +iron walls of the prison-house which threaten to close on and crush us; +that, groping about in the darkness, mankind may yet chance to lay hands +on "that golden key that opes the palace of eternity," and so to pass from +this world of shadows and sorrow to a world of untroubled light and joy. +If this is a dream, it is surely a happy and innocent one, and to those +who would wake us from it we may murmur with Michael Angelo, + + + "_Pero non mi destar, deh! parla basso._" + + +J. G. FRAZER. + +CAMBRIDGE, +_11th June 1911_. + + + + + +CHAPTER I. THE MORTALITY OF THE GODS. + + +(M1) At an early stage of his intellectual development man deems himself +naturally immortal, and imagines that were it not for the baleful arts of +sorcerers, who cut the vital thread prematurely short, he would live for +ever. The illusion, so flattering to human wishes and hopes, is still +current among many savage tribes at the present day,(1) and it may be +supposed to have prevailed universally in that Age of Magic which appears +to have everywhere preceded the Age of Religion. But in time the sad truth +of human mortality was borne in upon our primitive philosopher with a +force of demonstration which no prejudice could resist and no sophistry +dissemble. Among the manifold influences which combined to wring from him +a reluctant assent to the necessity of death must be numbered the growing +influence of religion, which by exposing the vanity of magic and of all +the extravagant pretensions built on it gradually lowered man's proud and +defiant attitude towards nature, and taught him to believe that there are +mysteries in the universe which his feeble intellect can never fathom, and +forces which his puny hands can never control. Thus more and more he +learned to bow to the inevitable and to console himself for the brevity +and the sorrows of life on earth by the hope of a blissful eternity +hereafter. But if he reluctantly acknowledged the existence of beings at +once superhuman and supernatural, he was as yet far from suspecting the +width and the depth of the gulf which divided him from them. The gods with +whom his imagination now peopled the darkness of the unknown were indeed +admitted by him to be his superiors in knowledge and in power, in the +joyous splendour of their life and in the length of its duration. But, +though he knew it not, these glorious and awful beings were merely, like +the spectre of the Brocken, the reflections of his own diminutive +personality exaggerated into gigantic proportions by distance and by the +mists and clouds upon which they were cast. Man in fact created gods in +his own likeness and being himself mortal he naturally supposed his +creatures to be in the same sad predicament. Thus the Greenlanders +believed that a wind could kill their most powerful god, and that he would +certainly die if he touched a dog. When they heard of the Christian God, +they kept asking if he never died, and being informed that he did not, +they were much surprised, and said that he must be a very great god +indeed.(2) In answer to the enquiries of Colonel Dodge, a North American +Indian stated that the world was made by the Great Spirit. Being asked +which Great Spirit he meant, the good one or the bad one, "Oh, neither of +_them_" replied he, "the Great Spirit that made the world is dead long +ago. He could not possibly have lived as long as this."(3) A tribe in the +Philippine Islands told the Spanish conquerors that the grave of the +Creator was upon the top of Mount Cabunian.(4) Heitsi-eibib, a god or +divine hero of the Hottentots, died several times and came to life again. +His graves are generally to be met with in narrow defiles between +mountains. When the Hottentots pass one of them, they throw a stone on it +for good luck, sometimes muttering "Give us plenty of cattle."(5) The +grave of Zeus, the great god of Greece, was shewn to visitors in Crete as +late as about the beginning of our era.(6) The body of Dionysus was buried +at Delphi beside the golden statue of Apollo, and his tomb bore the +inscription, "Here lies Dionysus dead, the son of Semele."(7) According to +one account, Apollo himself was buried at Delphi; for Pythagoras is said +to have carved an inscription on his tomb, setting forth how the god had +been killed by the python and buried under the tripod.(8) The ancient god +Cronus was buried in Sicily,(9) and the graves of Hermes, Aphrodite, and +Ares were shewn in Hermopolis, Cyprus, and Thrace.(10) + +(M2) The great gods of Egypt themselves were not exempt from the common +lot. They too grew old and died. For like men they were composed of body +and soul, and like men were subject to all the passions and infirmities of +the flesh. Their bodies, it is true, were fashioned of more ethereal +mould, and lasted longer than ours, but they could not hold out for ever +against the siege of time. Age converted their bones into silver, their +flesh into gold, and their azure locks into lapis-lazuli. When their time +came, they passed away from the cheerful world of the living to reign as +dead gods over dead men in the melancholy world beyond the grave. Even +their souls, like those of mankind, could only endure after death so long +as their bodies held together; and hence it was as needful to preserve the +corpses of the gods as the corpses of common folk, lest with the divine +body the divine spirit should also come to an untimely end. At first their +remains were laid to rest under the desert sands of the mountains, that +the dryness of the soil and the purity of the air might protect them from +putrefaction and decay. Hence one of the oldest titles of the Egyptian +gods is "they who are under the sands." But when at a later time the +discovery of the art of embalming gave a new lease of life to the souls of +the dead by preserving their bodies for an indefinite time from +corruption, the deities were permitted to share the benefit of an +invention which held out to gods as well as to men a reasonable hope of +immortality. Every province then had the tomb and mummy of its dead god. +The mummy of Osiris was to be seen at Mendes; Thinis boasted of the mummy +of Anhouri; and Heliopolis rejoiced in the possession of that of +Toumou.(11) But while their bodies lay swathed and bandaged here on earth +in the tomb, their souls, if we may trust the Egyptian priests, shone as +bright stars in the firmament. The soul of Isis sparkled in Sirius, the +soul of Horus in Orion, and the soul of Typhon in the Great Bear.(12) But +the death of the god did not involve the extinction of his sacred stock; +for he commonly had by his wife a son and heir, who on the demise of his +divine parent succeeded to the full rank, power, and honours of the +godhead.(13) The high gods of Babylon also, though they appeared to their +worshippers only in dreams and visions, were conceived to be human in +their bodily shape, human in their passions, and human in their fate; for +like men they were born into the world, and like men they loved and fought +and died.(14) + +(M3) One of the most famous stories of the death of a god is told by +Plutarch. It runs thus. In the reign of the emperor Tiberius a certain +schoolmaster named Epitherses was sailing from Greece to Italy. The ship +in which he had taken his passage was a merchantman and there were many +other passengers on board. At evening, when they were off the Echinadian +Islands, the wind died away, and the vessel drifted close in to the island +of Paxos. Most of the passengers were awake and many were still drinking +wine after dinner, when suddenly a voice hailed the ship from the island, +calling upon Thamus. The crew and passengers were taken by surprise, for +though there was an Egyptian pilot named Thamus on board, few knew him +even by name. Twice the cry was repeated, but Thamus kept silence. +However, at the third call he answered, and the voice from the shore, now +louder than ever, said, "When you are come to Palodes, announce that the +Great Pan is dead." Astonishment fell upon all, and they consulted whether +it would be better to do the bidding of the voice or not. At last Thamus +resolved that, if the wind held, he would pass the place in silence, but +if it dropped when they were off Palodes he would give the message. Well, +when they were come to Palodes, there was a great calm; so Thamus standing +in the stern and looking towards the land cried out, as he had been +bidden, "The Great Pan is dead." The words had hardly passed his lips when +a loud sound of lamentation broke on their ears, as if a multitude were +mourning. This strange story, vouched for by many on board, soon got wind +at Rome, and Thamus was sent for and questioned by the emperor Tiberius +himself, who caused enquiries to be made about the dead god.(15) In modern +times, also, the annunciation of the death of the Great Pan has been much +discussed and various explanations of it have been suggested. On the whole +the simplest and most natural would seem to be that the deity whose sad +end was thus mysteriously proclaimed and lamented was the Syrian god +Tammuz or Adonis, whose death is known to have been annually bewailed by +his followers both in Greece and in his native Syria. At Athens the +solemnity fell at midsummer, and there is no improbability in the view +that in a Greek island a band of worshippers of Tammuz should have been +celebrating the death of their god with the customary passionate +demonstrations of sorrow at the very time when a ship lay becalmed off the +shore, and that in the stillness of the summer night the voices of +lamentation should have been wafted with startling distinctness across the +water and should have made on the minds of the listening passengers a deep +and lasting impression.(16) However that may be, stories of the same kind +found currency in western Asia down to the Middle Ages. An Arab writer +relates that in the year 1063 or 1064 A.D., in the reign of the caliph +Caiem, a rumour went abroad through Bagdad, which soon spread all over the +province of Irac, that some Turks out hunting in the desert had seen a +black tent, where many men and women were beating their faces and uttering +loud cries, as it is the custom to do in the East when some one is dead. +And among the cries they distinguished these words, "The great King of the +Jinn is dead, woe to this country!" In consequence of this a mysterious +threat was circulated from Armenia to Chuzistan that every town which did +not lament the dead King of the Jinn should utterly perish. Again, in the +year 1203 or 1204 A.D. a fatal disease, which attacked the throat, raged +in parts of Mosul and Irac, and it was divulged that a woman of the Jinn +called Umm 'Uncud or "Mother of the Grape-cluster" had lost her son, and +that all who did not lament for him would fall victims to the epidemic. So +men and women sought to save themselves from death by assembling and +beating their faces, while they cried out in a lamentable voice, "O mother +of the Grape-cluster, excuse us; the Grape-cluster is dead; we knew it +not."(17) + + + + + +CHAPTER II. THE KILLING OF THE DIVINE KING. + + + + +§ 1. Preference for a Violent Death. + + +(M4) If the high gods, who dwell remote from the fret and fever of this +earthly life, are yet believed to die at last, it is not to be expected +that a god who lodges in a frail tabernacle of flesh should escape the +same fate, though we hear of African kings who have imagined themselves +immortal by virtue of their sorceries.(18) Now primitive peoples, as we +have seen,(19) sometimes believe that their safety and even that of the +world is bound up with the life of one of these god-men or human +incarnations of the divinity. Naturally, therefore, they take the utmost +care of his life, out of a regard for their own. But no amount of care and +precaution will prevent the man-god from growing old and feeble and at +last dying. His worshippers have to lay their account with this sad +necessity and to meet it as best they can. The danger is a formidable one; +for if the course of nature is dependent on the man-god's life, what +catastrophes may not be expected from the gradual enfeeblement of his +powers and their final extinction in death? There is only one way of +averting these dangers. The man-god must be killed as soon as he shews +symptoms that his powers are beginning to fail, and his soul must be +transferred to a vigorous successor before it has been seriously impaired +by the threatened decay. The advantages of thus putting the man-god to +death instead of allowing him to die of old age and disease are, to the +savage, obvious enough. For if the man-god dies what we call a natural +death, it means, according to the savage, that his soul has either +voluntarily departed from his body and refuses to return, or more commonly +that it has been extracted, or at least detained in its wanderings, by a +demon or sorcerer.(20) In any of these cases the soul of the man-god is +lost to his worshippers; and with it their prosperity is gone and their +very existence endangered. Even if they could arrange to catch the soul of +the dying god as it left his lips or his nostrils and so transfer it to a +successor, this would not effect their purpose; for, dying of disease, his +soul would necessarily leave his body in the last stage of weakness and +exhaustion, and so enfeebled it would continue to drag out a languid, +inert existence in any body to which it might be transferred. Whereas by +slaying him his worshippers could, in the first place, make sure of +catching his soul as it escaped and transferring it to a suitable +successor; and, in the second place, by putting him to death before his +natural force was abated, they would secure that the world should not fall +into decay with the decay of the man-god. Every purpose, therefore, was +answered, and all dangers averted by thus killing the man-god and +transferring his soul, while yet at its prime, to a vigorous successor. + +(M5) Some of the reasons for preferring a violent death to the slow death +of old age or disease are obviously as applicable to common men as to the +man-god. Thus the Mangaians think that "the spirits of those who die a +natural death are excessively feeble and weak, as their bodies were at +dissolution; whereas the spirits of those who are slain in battle are +strong and vigorous, their bodies not having been reduced by disease."(21) +The Barongo believe that in the world beyond the grave the spirits of +their dead ancestors appear with the exact form and lineaments which their +bodies exhibited at the moment of death; the spirits are young or old +according as their bodies were young or old when they died; there are baby +spirits who crawl about on all fours.(22) The Lengua Indians of the Gran +Chaco are persuaded that the souls of the departed correspond exactly in +form and characteristics to the bodies which they quitted at death; thus a +tall man is tall, a short man is short, and a deformed man is deformed in +the spirit-land, and the disembodied soul of a child remains a child, it +never develops into an adult. Hence they burn the body of a murderer and +scatter the ashes to the winds, thinking that this treatment will prevent +his spirit from assuming human shape in the other world.(23) So, too, the +Naga tribes of Manipur hold that the ghost of a dead man is an exact image +of the deceased as he was at the moment of death, with his scars, tattoo +marks, mutilations, and all the rest.(24) The Baganda think that the +ghosts of men who were mutilated in life are mutilated in like manner +after death; so to avoid that shame they will rather die with all their +limbs than lose one by amputation and live.(25) Hence, men sometimes +prefer to kill themselves or to be killed before they grow feeble, in +order that in the future life their souls may start fresh and vigorous as +they left their bodies, instead of decrepit and worn out with age and +disease. Thus in Fiji, "self-immolation is by no means rare, and they +believe that as they leave this life, so they will remain ever after. This +forms a powerful motive to escape from decrepitude, or from a crippled +condition, by a voluntary death."(26) Or, as another observer of the +Fijians puts it more fully, "the custom of voluntary suicide on the part +of the old men, which is among their most extraordinary usages, is also +connected with their superstitions respecting a future life. They believe +that persons enter upon the delights of their elysium with the same +faculties, mental and physical, that they possess at the hour of death, in +short, that the spiritual life commences where the corporeal existence +terminates. With these views, it is natural that they should desire to +pass through this change before their mental and bodily powers are so +enfeebled by age as to deprive them of their capacity for enjoyment. To +this motive must be added the contempt which attaches to physical weakness +among a nation of warriors, and the wrongs and insults which await those +who are no longer able to protect themselves. When therefore a man finds +his strength declining with the advance of age, and feels that he will +soon be unequal to discharge the duties of this life, and to partake in +the pleasures of that which is to come, he calls together his relations, +and tells them that he is now worn out and useless, that he sees they are +all ashamed of him, and that he has determined to be buried." So on a day +appointed they used to meet and bury him alive.(27) In Vate, one of the +New Hebrides, the aged were buried alive at their own request. It was +considered a disgrace to the family of an old chief if he was not buried +alive.(28) Of the Kamants, a Jewish tribe in Abyssinia, it is reported +that "they never let a person die a natural death, but that if any of +their relatives is nearly expiring, the priest of the village is called to +cut his throat; if this be omitted, they believe that the departed soul +has not entered the mansions of the blessed."(29) The old Greek +philosopher Heraclitus thought that the souls of those who die in battle +are purer than the souls of those who die of disease.(30) + +(M6) Among the Chiriguanos, a tribe of South American Indians on the river +Pilcomayo, when a man was at the point of death his nearest relative used +to break his spine by a blow of an axe, for they thought that to die a +natural death was the greatest misfortune that could befall a man.(31) +Whenever a Payagua Indian of Paraguay, or a Guayana of south-eastern +Brazil, grew weary of life, a feast was made, and amid the revelry and +dancing the man was gummed and feathered with the plumage of many-coloured +birds. A huge jar had been previously fixed in the ground to be ready for +him; in this he was placed, the mouth of the jar was covered with a heavy +lid of baked clay, the earth was heaped over it, and thus "he went to his +doom more joyful and gladsome than to his first nuptials."(32) Among the +Koryaks of north-eastern Asia, when a man felt that his last hour was +come, superstition formerly required that he should either kill himself or +be killed by a friend, in order that he might escape the Evil One and +deliver himself up to the Good God.(33) Similarly among the Chukchees of +the same region, when a man's strength fails and he is tired of life, he +requests his son or other near relation to despatch him, indicating the +manner of death he prefers to die. So, on a day appointed, his friends and +neighbours assemble, and in their presence he is stabbed, strangled, or +otherwise disposed of according to his directions.(34) The turbulent +Angamis are the most warlike and bloodthirsty of the wild head-hunting +tribes in the valley of the Brahmapootra. Among them, when a warrior dies +a natural death, his nearest male relative takes a spear and wounds the +corpse by a blow on the head, in order that the man may be received with +honour in the other world as one who has died in battle.(35) The heathen +Norsemen believed that only those who fell fighting were received by Odin +in Valhalla; hence it appears to have been customary to wound the dying +with a spear, in order to secure their admission to the happy land. The +custom may have been a mitigation of a still older practice of +slaughtering the sick.(36) We know from Procopius that among the Heruli, a +Teutonic tribe, the sick and old were regularly slain at their own request +and then burned on a pyre.(37) The Wends used to kill their aged parents +and other kinsfolk, and having killed them they boiled and ate their +bodies; and the old folks preferred to die thus rather than to drag out a +weary life of weakness and decrepitude.(38) + + + + +§ 2. Kings killed when their Strength fails. + + +(M7) But it is with the death of the god-man--the divine king or +priest--that we are here especially concerned. The mystic kings of Fire and +Water in Cambodia are not allowed to die a natural death. Hence when one +of them is seriously ill and the elders think that he cannot recover, they +stab him to death.(39) The people of Congo believed, as we have seen,(40) +that if their pontiff the Chitome were to die a natural death, the world +would perish, and the earth, which he alone sustained by his power and +merit, would immediately be annihilated. Accordingly when he fell ill and +seemed likely to die, the man who was destined to be his successor entered +the pontiff's house with a rope or a club and strangled or clubbed him to +death.(41) A fuller account of this custom is given by an old Italian +writer as follows: "Let us pass to the death of the magicians, who often +die a violent death, and that for the most part voluntarily. I shall speak +only of the head of this crew, from whom his followers take example. He is +called Ganga Chitome, being reputed god of the earth. The first-fruits of +all the crops are offered to him as his due, because they are thought to +be produced by his power, and not by nature at the bidding of the Most +High God. This power he boasts he can impart to others, when and to whom +he pleases. He asserts that his body cannot die a natural death, and +therefore when he knows he is near the end of his days, whether it is +brought about by sickness or age, or whether he is deluded by the demon, +he calls one of his disciples to whom he wishes to communicate his power, +in order that he may succeed him. And having made him tie a noose to his +neck he commands him to strangle him, or to knock him on the head with a +great cudgel and kill him. His disciple obeys and sends him a martyr to +the devil, to suffer torments with Lucifer in the flames for ever. This +tragedy is enacted in public, in order that his successor may be +manifested, who hath the power of fertilising the earth, the power having +been imparted to him by the deceased; otherwise, so they say, the earth +would remain barren, and the world would perish. Oh too great foolishness +and palpable blindness of the gentiles, to enlighten the eye of whose mind +there would be needed the very hand of Christ whereby he opened the bodily +eyes of him that had been born blind! I know that in my time one of these +magicians was cast into the sea, another into a river, a mother put to +death with her son, and many more seized by our orders and banished."(42) +The Ethiopian kings of Meroe were worshipped as gods; but whenever the +priests chose, they sent a messenger to the king, ordering him to die, and +alleging an oracle of the gods as their authority for the command. This +command the kings always obeyed down to the reign of Ergamenes, a +contemporary of Ptolemy II., King of Egypt. Having received a Greek +education which emancipated him from the superstitions of his countrymen, +Ergamenes ventured to disregard the command of the priests, and, entering +the Golden Temple with a body of soldiers, put the priests to the +sword.(43) + +(M8) Customs of the same sort appear to have prevailed in this region down +to modern times. Thus we are told that in Fazoql, a district in the valley +of the Blue Nile, to the west of Abyssinia, it was customary, as late as +the middle of the nineteenth century, to hang a king who was no longer +beloved. His relatives and ministers assembled round him, and announced +that as he no longer pleased the men, the women, the asses, the oxen, and +the fowls of the country, it was better he should die. Once on a time, +when a king was unwilling to take the hint, his own wife and mother urged +him so strongly not to disgrace himself by disregarding the custom, that +he submitted to his fate and was strung up in the usual way. In some +tribes of Fazoql the king had to administer justice daily under a certain +tree. If from sickness or any other cause he was unable to discharge this +duty for three whole days, he was hanged on the tree in a noose, which +contained two razors so arranged that when the noose was drawn tight by +the weight of the king's body they cut his throat.(44) At Fazolglou an +annual festival, which partook of the nature of a Saturnalia, was preceded +by a formal trial of the king in front of his house. The judges were the +chief men of the country. The king sat on his royal stool during the +trial, surrounded by armed men, who were ready to carry out a sentence of +death. A little way off a jackal and a dog were tied to a post. The +conduct of the king during his year of office was discussed, complaints +were heard, and if the verdict was unfavourable, the king was executed and +his successor chosen from among the members of his family. But if the +monarch was acquitted, the people at once paid their homage to him afresh, +and the dog or the jackal was killed in his stead. This custom lasted down +to the year 1837 or 1838, when king Yassin was thus condemned and +executed.(45) His nephew Assusa was compelled under threats of death to +succeed him in the office.(46) Afterwards it would seem that the death of +the dog was regularly accepted as a substitute for the death of the king. +At least this may be inferred from a later account of the Fazoql practice, +which runs thus: "The meaning of another of their customs is quite +obscure. At a certain time of the year they have a kind of carnival, where +every one does what he likes best. Four ministers of the king then bear +him on an anqareb out of his house to an open space of ground; a dog is +fastened by a long cord to one of the feet of the anqareb. The whole +population collects round the place, streaming in on every side. They then +throw darts and stones at the dog, till he is killed, after which the king +is again borne into his house."(47) + +(M9) A custom of putting their divine kings to death at the first symptoms +of infirmity or old age prevailed until lately, if indeed it is even now +extinct and not merely dormant, among the Shilluk of the White Nile, and +in recent years it has been carefully investigated by Dr. C. G. Seligmann, +to whose researches I am indebted for the following detailed information +on the subject.(48) The Shilluk are a tribe or nation who inhabit a long +narrow fringe of territory on the western bank of the White Nile from Kaka +in the north to Lake No in the south, as well as a strip on the eastern +bank of the river, which stretches from Fashoda to Taufikia and for some +thirty-five miles up the Sobat River. The country of the Shilluk is almost +entirely in grass, hence the principal wealth of the people consists in +their flocks and herds, but they also grow a considerable quantity of the +species of millet which is known as durra. But though the Shilluk are +mainly a pastoral people, they are not nomadic, but live in many settled +villages. The tribe at present numbers about forty thousand souls, and is +governed by a single king (_ret_), whose residence is at Fashoda. His +subjects take great care of him, and hold him in much honour. In the old +days his word was law and he was not suffered to go forth to battle. At +the present day he still keeps up considerable state and exercises much +authority; his decisions on all matters brought before him are readily +obeyed; and he never moves without a bodyguard of from twelve to twenty +men. The reverence which the Shilluk pay to their king appears to arise +chiefly from the conviction that he is a reincarnation of the spirit of +Nyakang, the semi-divine hero who founded the dynasty and settled the +tribe in their present territory, to which he is variously said to have +conducted them either from the west or from the south. Tradition has +preserved the pedigree of the kings from Nyakang to the present day. The +number of kings recorded between Nyakang and the father of the reigning +monarch is twenty, distributed over twelve generations; but Dr. Seligmann +is of opinion that many more must have reigned, and that the genealogy of +the first six or seven kings, as given to him, has been much abbreviated. +There seems to be no reason to doubt the historical character of all of +them, though myths have gathered like clouds round the persons of Nyakang +and his immediate successors. The Shilluk about Kodok (Fashoda) think of +Nyakang as having been a man in appearance and physical qualities, though +unlike his royal descendants of more recent times he did not die but +simply disappeared. His holiness is manifested especially by his relation +to Juok, the great god of the Shilluk, who created man and is responsible +for the order of nature. Juok is formless and invisible and like the air +he is everywhere at once. He is far above Nyakang and men alike, but he is +not worshipped directly, and it is only through the intercession of +Nyakang, whose favour the Shilluk secure by means of sacrifices, that Juok +can be induced to send the needed rain for the cattle and the crops.(49) +In his character of rain-giver Nyakang is the great benefactor of the +Shilluk. Their country, baked by the burning heat of the tropical sun, +depends entirely for its fertility on the waters of heaven, for the people +do not resort to artificial irrigation. When the rain falls, then the +grass sprouts, the millet grows, the cattle thrive, and the people have +food to eat. Drought brings famine and death in its train.(50) Nyakang is +said not only to have brought the Shilluk into their present land, but to +have made them into a nation of warriors, divided the country among them, +regulated marriage, and made the laws.(51) The religion of the Shilluk at +the present time consists mainly of the worship paid to this semi-divine +hero, the traditionary ancestor of their kings. There seems to be no +reason to doubt that the traditions concerning him are substantially +correct; in all probability he was simply a man whom the superstition of +his fellows in his own and subsequent ages has raised to the rank of a +deity.(52) No less than ten shrines are dedicated to his worship; the +three most famous are at Fashoda, Akurwa, and Fenikang. They consist of +one or more huts enclosed by a fence; generally there are several huts +within the enclosure, one or more of them being occupied by the guardians +of the shrine. These guardians are old men, who not only keep the hallowed +spot scrupulously clean, but also act as priests, killing the sacrificial +victims which are brought to the shrine, sharing their flesh, and taking +the skins for themselves. All the shrines of Nyakang are called graves of +Nyakang (_kengo Nyakang_), though it is well known that nobody is buried +there.(53) Sacred spears are kept in all of them and are used to slaughter +the victims offered in sacrifice at the shrines. The originals of these +spears are said to have belonged to Nyakang and his companions, but they +have disappeared and been replaced by others. + +(M10) Two great ceremonies are annually performed at the shrines of +Nyakang: one of them is intended to ensure the fall of rain, the other is +celebrated at harvest. At the rain-making ceremony, which is held before +the rains at the beginning of the month _alabor_, a bullock is slain with +a sacred spear before the door of the shrine, while the king stands by +praying in a loud voice to Nyakang to send down the refreshing showers on +the thirsty land. As much of the blood of the victim as possible is +collected in a gourd and thrown into the river, perhaps as a rain-charm. +This intention of the sacrifice comes out more plainly in a form of the +ritual which is said to be observed at Ashop. There the sacrificial +bullock is speared high up in the flank, so that the wound is not +immediately fatal. Then the wounded animal is allowed and indeed +encouraged to walk to and from the river before it sinks down and dies. In +the blood that streams from its side on the ground the people may see a +symbol of the looked-for rain.(54) Care is taken not to break the bones of +the animal, and they, like the blood, are thrown into the river. At the +annual rain-making ceremony a cow is also dedicated to Nyakang: it is not +killed but added to the sacred herd of the shrine. The other great annual +ceremony observed at the shrines of Nyakang falls at harvest. When the +millet has been reaped, every one brings a portion of the grain to a +shrine of Nyakang, where it is ground into flour, which is made into +porridge with water fetched from the river. Then some of the porridge is +poured out on the threshold of the hut which the spirit of Nyakang is +supposed to inhabit; some of it is smeared on the outer walls of the +building; and some of it is emptied out on the ground outside. Even before +harvest it is customary to bring some of the ripening grain from the +fields and to thrust it into the thatch of the huts in the shrines, no +doubt in order to secure the blessing of Nyakang on the crops. Sacrifices +are also offered at these shrines for the benefit of sick people. A +sufferer will bring or send a sheep to the nearest sanctuary, where the +guardians will slaughter the animal with a sacred spear and pray for the +patient's recovery. + +(M11) It is a fundamental article of the Shilluk creed that the spirit of +the divine or semi-divine Nyakang is incarnate in the reigning king, who +is accordingly himself invested to some extent with the character of a +divinity. But while the Shilluk hold their kings in high, indeed religious +reverence and take every precaution against their accidental death, +nevertheless they cherish "the conviction that the king must not be +allowed to become ill or senile, lest with his diminishing vigour the +cattle should sicken and fail to bear their increase, the crops should rot +in the fields, and man, stricken with disease, should die in ever +increasing numbers."(55) To prevent these calamities it used to be the +regular custom with the Shilluk to put the king to death whenever he +shewed signs of ill-health or failing strength. One of the fatal symptoms +of decay was taken to be an incapacity to satisfy the sexual passions of +his wives, of whom he has very many, distributed in a large number of +houses at Fashoda. When this ominous weakness manifested itself, the wives +reported it to the chiefs, who are popularly said to have intimated to the +king his doom by spreading a white cloth over his face and knees as he lay +slumbering in the heat of the sultry afternoon. Execution soon followed +the sentence of death. A hut was specially built for the occasion: the +king was led into it and lay down with his head resting on the lap of a +nubile virgin: the door of the hut was then walled up; and the couple were +left without food, water, or fire to die of hunger and suffocation. This +was the old custom, but it was abolished some five generations ago on +account of the excessive sufferings of one of the kings who perished in +this way. He survived his companion for some days, and in the interval was +so distressed by the stench of her putrefying body that he shouted to the +people, whom he could hear moving outside, never again to let a king die +in this prolonged and exquisite agony. After a time his cries died away +into silence; death had released him from his sufferings; but since then +the Shilluk have adopted a quicker and more merciful mode of executing +their kings. What the exact form of execution has been in later times Dr. +Seligmann found it very difficult to ascertain, though with regard to the +fact of the execution he tells us that there is not the least doubt. It is +said that the chiefs announce his fate to the king, and that afterwards he +is strangled in a hut which has been specially built for the occasion. + +(M12) From Dr. Seligmann's enquiries it appears that not only was the +Shilluk king liable to be killed with due ceremony at the first symptoms +of incipient decay, but even while he was yet in the prime of health and +strength he might be attacked at any time by a rival and have to defend +his crown in a combat to the death. According to the common Shilluk +tradition any son of a king had the right thus to fight the king in +possession and, if he succeeded in killing him, to reign in his stead. As +every king had a large harem and many sons, the number of possible +candidates for the throne at any time may well have been not +inconsiderable, and the reigning monarch must have carried his life in his +hand. But the attack on him could only take place with any prospect of +success at night; for during the day the king surrounded himself with his +friends and bodyguards, and an aspirant to the throne could hardly hope to +cut his way through them and strike home. It was otherwise at night. For +then the guards were dismissed and the king was alone in his enclosure +with his favourite wives, and there was no man near to defend him except a +few herdsmen, whose huts stood a little way off. The hours of darkness +were therefore the season of peril for the king. It is said that he used +to pass them in constant watchfulness, prowling round his huts fully +armed, peering into the blackest shadows, or himself standing silent and +alert, like a sentinel on duty, in some dark corner. When at last his +rival appeared, the fight would take place in grim silence, broken only by +the clash of spears and shields, for it was a point of honour with the +king not to call the herdsmen to his assistance.(56) + +When the king did not perish in single combat, but was put to death on the +approach of sickness or old age, it became necessary to find a successor +for him. Apparently the successor was chosen by the most powerful chiefs +from among the princes (_niaret_), the sons either of the late king or of +one of his predecessors. Details as to the mode of election are lacking. +So far as Dr. Seligmann could ascertain, the kings elect shewed no +reluctance to accept the fatal sovereignty; indeed he was told a story of +a man who clamoured to be made king for only one day, saying that he was +perfectly ready to be killed after that. The age at which the king was +killed would seem to have commonly been between forty and fifty.(57) To +the improvident and unimaginative savage the prospect of being put to +death at the end of a set time, whether long or short, has probably few +terrors; and if it has any, we may suspect that they are altogether +outweighed in his mind by the opportunities for immediate enjoyment of all +kinds which a kingdom affords to his unbridled appetites and passions. + +(M13) An important part of the solemnities attending the accession of a +Shilluk king appears to be intended to convey to the new monarch the +divine spirit of Nyakang, which has been transmitted from the founder of +the dynasty to all his successors on the throne. For this purpose a sacred +four-legged stool and a mysterious object which bears the name of Nyakang +himself are brought with much solemnity from the shrine of Nyakang at +Akurwa to the small village of Kwom near Fashoda, where the king elect and +the chiefs await their arrival. The thing called Nyakang is said to be of +cylindrical shape, some two or three feet long by six inches broad. The +chief of Akurwa informed Dr. Seligmann that the object in question is a +rude wooden figure of a man, which was fashioned long ago at the command +of Nyakang in person. We may suppose that it represents the divine king +himself and that it is, or was formerly, supposed to house his spirit, +though the chief of Akurwa denied to Dr. Seligmann that it does so now. Be +that as it may, the object plays a prominent part at the installation of a +new king. When the men of Akurwa arrive at Kwom with the sacred stool and +the image of Nyakang, as we may call it, they engage in a sham fight with +the men who are waiting for them with the king elect. The weapons used on +both sides are simply stalks of millet. Being victorious in the mock +combat, the men of Akurwa escort the king to Fashoda, and some of them +enter the shrine of Nyakang with the stool. After a short time they bring +the stool forth again and set it on the ground outside of the sacred +enclosure. Then the image of Nyakang is placed on the stool; the king +elect holds one leg of the stool and an important chief holds another. The +king is surrounded by a crowd of princes and nobles, and near him stand +two of his paternal aunts and two of his sisters. After that a bullock is +killed and its flesh eaten by the men of certain families called _ororo_, +who are said to be descended from the third of the Shilluk kings. Then the +Akurwa men carry the image of Nyakang into the shrine, and the _ororo_ men +place the king elect on the sacred stool, where he remains seated for some +time, apparently till sunset. When he rises, the Akurwa men carry the +stool back into the shrine, and the king is escorted to three new huts, +where he stays in seclusion for three days. On the fourth night he is +conducted quietly, almost stealthily, to his royal residence at Fashoda, +and next day he shews himself publicly to his subjects. The three new huts +in which he spent the days of his seclusion are then broken up and their +fragments cast into the river. The installation of a new king generally +takes place about the middle of the dry season; and it is said that the +men of Akurwa tarry at Fashoda with the image of Nyakang till about the +beginning of the rains. Before they leave Fashoda they sacrifice a +bullock, and at every waddy or bed of a stream that they cross they kill a +sheep. + +(M14) Like Nyakang himself, their founder, each of the Shilluk kings after +death is worshipped at a shrine, which is erected over his grave, and the +grave of a king is always in the village where he was born.(58) The +tomb-shrine of a king resembles the shrine of Nyakang, consisting of a few +huts enclosed by a fence; one of the huts is built over the king's grave, +the others are occupied by the guardians of the shrine. Indeed the shrines +of Nyakang and the shrines of the kings are scarcely to be distinguished +from each other, and the religious rituals observed at all of them are +identical in form and vary only in matters of detail, the variations being +due apparently to the far greater sanctity attributed to the shrines of +Nyakang. The grave-shrines of the kings are tended by certain old men or +women, who correspond to the guardians of the shrines of Nyakang. They are +usually widows or old men-servants of the deceased king, and when they die +they are succeeded in their office by their descendants. Moreover, cattle +are dedicated to the grave-shrines of the kings and sacrifices are offered +at them just as at the shrines of Nyakang. Thus when the millet crop +threatens to fail or a murrain to break out among the cattle, either +Nyakang himself or one of his successors on the throne will appear to +somebody in a dream and demand a sacrifice. The dream is reported to the +king, who thereupon at once sends a cow and a bullock to one or more of +the shrines of Nyakang, if it was he who appeared in the vision, or to the +grave-shrine of the particular king whom the dreamer saw in his dream. The +bullock is then sacrificed and the cow added to the sacred herd belonging +to the shrine. Further, the harvest ceremony which is performed at the +shrines of Nyakang is usually, though not necessarily, performed also at +the grave-shrines of the kings; and, lastly, sick folk send animals to be +sacrificed as offerings on their behalf at the shrines of the kings just +as they send them to the shrines of Nyakang. + +(M15) Sick people have, indeed, a special reason for sacrificing to the +spirits of the dead kings in the hope of recovery, inasmuch as one of the +commonest causes of sickness, according to the Shilluk, is the entrance of +one of these royal spirits into the body of the sufferer, whose first +care, therefore, is to rid himself as quickly as possible of his august +but unwelcome guest. Apparently, however, it is only the souls of the +early kings who manifest themselves in this disagreeable fashion. Dr. +Seligmann met with a woman, for example, who had been ill and who +attributed her illness to the spirit of Dag, the second of the Shilluk +kings, which had taken possession of her body. But a sacrifice of two +sheep had induced the spirit to quit her, and she wore anklets of beads, +with pieces of the ears of the sheep strung on them, which she thought +would effectually guard her against the danger of being again possessed by +the soul of the dead king. Nor is it only in sickness that the souls of +dead kings are thought to take possession of the bodies of the living. +Certain men and women, who bear the name of _ajuago_, are believed to be +permanently possessed by the spirit of one or other of the early kings, +and in virtue of this inspiration they profess to heal the sick and do a +brisk trade in amulets. The first symptom of possession may take the form +of illness or of a dream from which the sleeper awakes trembling and +agitated. A long and complicated ceremony follows to abate the extreme +force of the spiritual manifestations in the new medium, for were these to +continue in their first intensity he would not dare to approach his women. +But whichever of the dead kings may manifest himself to the living, +whether in dreams or in the form of bodily possession, his spirit is +deemed, at least by many of the Shilluk, to be identical with that of +Nyakang; they do not clearly distinguish, if indeed they distinguish at +all, between the divine spirit of the founder of the dynasty and its later +manifestations in all his royal successors. + +(M16) In general the principal element in the religion of the Shilluk +would seem to be the worship which they pay to their sacred or divine +kings, whether dead or alive. These are believed to be animated by a +single divine spirit, which has been transmitted from the semi-mythical, +but probably in substance historical, founder of the dynasty through all +his successors to the present day. Yet the divine spirit, as Dr. Seligmann +justly observes, is clearly not thought of as congenital in the members of +the royal house; it is only conveyed to each king on his accession by +means of the mysterious object called Nyakang, in which, as Dr. Seligmann +with great probability conjectures, the holy spirit of Nyakang may be +supposed to reside. Hence, regarding their kings as incarnate divinities +on whom the welfare of men, of cattle, and of the corn implicitly depends, +the Shilluk naturally pay them the greatest respect and take every care of +them; and however strange it may seem to us, their custom of putting the +divine king to death as soon as he shews signs of ill-health or failing +strength springs directly from their profound veneration for him and from +their anxiety to preserve him, or rather the divine spirit by which he is +animated, in the most perfect state of efficiency: nay, we may go further +and say that their practice of regicide is the best proof they can give of +the high regard in which they hold their kings. For they believe, as we +have seen, that the king's life or spirit is so sympathetically bound up +with the prosperity of the whole country, that if he fell ill or grew +senile the cattle would sicken and cease to multiply, the crops would rot +in the fields, and men would perish of widespread disease. Hence, in their +opinion, the only way of averting these calamities is to put the king to +death while he is still hale and hearty, in order that the divine spirit +which he has inherited from his predecessors may be transmitted in turn by +him to his successor while it is still in full vigour and has not yet been +impaired by the weakness of disease and old age. In this connexion the +particular symptom which is commonly said to seal the king's death-warrant +is highly significant; when he can no longer satisfy the passions of his +numerous wives, in other words, when he has ceased, whether partially or +wholly, to be able to reproduce his kind, it is time for him to die and to +make room for a more vigorous successor. Taken along with the other +reasons which are alleged for putting the king to death, this one suggests +that the fertility of men, of cattle, and of the crops is believed to +depend sympathetically on the generative power of the king, so that the +complete failure of that power in him would involve a corresponding +failure in men, animals, and plants, and would thereby entail at no +distant date the entire extinction of all life, whether human, animal, or +vegetable. No wonder, that with such a danger before their eyes the +Shilluk should be most careful not to let the king die what we should call +a natural death of sickness or old age. It is characteristic of their +attitude towards the death of the kings that they refrain from speaking of +it as death: they do not say that a king has died but simply that he has +"gone away" like his divine ancestors Nyakang and Dag, the two first kings +of the dynasty, both of whom are reported not to have died but to have +disappeared. The similar legends of the mysterious disappearance of early +kings in other lands, for example at Rome and in Uganda,(59) may well +point to a similar custom of putting them to death for the purpose of +preserving their life. + +(M17) On the whole the theory and practice of the divine kings of the +Shilluk correspond very nearly to the theory and practice of the priests +of Nemi, the Kings of the Wood, if my view of the latter is correct.(60) +In both we see a series of divine kings on whose life the fertility of +men, of cattle, and of vegetation is believed to depend, and who are put +to death, whether in single combat or otherwise, in order that their +divine spirit may be transmitted to their successors in full vigour, +uncontaminated by the weakness and decay of sickness or old age, because +any such degeneration on the part of the king would, in the opinion of his +worshippers, entail a corresponding degeneration on mankind, on cattle, +and on the crops. Some points in this explanation of the custom of putting +divine kings to death, particularly the method of transmitting their +divine souls to their successors, will be dealt with more fully in the +sequel. Meantime we pass to other examples of the general practice. + +(M18) The Dinka are a congeries of independent tribes in the valley of the +White Nile, whose territory, lying mostly on the eastern bank of the river +and stretching from the sixth to the twelfth degree of North Latitude, has +been estimated to comprise between sixty and seventy thousand square +miles. They are a tall long-legged people rather slender than fat, with +curly hair and a complexion of the deepest black. Though ill-fed, they are +strong and healthy and in general reach a great age. The nation embraces a +number of independent tribes, and each tribe is mainly composed of the +owners of cattle; for the Dinka are essentially a pastoral people, +passionately devoted to the care of their numerous herds of oxen, though +they also keep sheep and goats, and the women cultivate small quantities +of millet (durra) and sesame. The tribes have no political union. Each +village forms a separate community, pasturing its herds together in the +same grass-land. With the change of the seasons the people migrate with +their flocks and herds to and from the banks of the Nile. In summer, when +the plains near the great river are converted into swamps and covered with +clouds of mosquitoes, the herdsmen and their families drive their beasts +to the higher land of the interior, where the animals find firm ground, +abundant fodder, and pools of water at which to slake their thirst in the +fervour of the noonday heat. Here in the clearings of the forest the +community takes up its abode, each family dwelling by itself in one or +more conical huts enclosed by a strong fence of stakes and thorn-bushes. +It is in the patches of open ground about these dwellings that the women +grow their scanty crops of millet and sesame. The mode of tillage is rude. +The stumps of the trees which have been felled are left standing to a +height of several feet; the ground is hacked by the help of a tool between +a hoe and a spade, and the weeds are uprooted with the hand. Such as it +is, the crop is exposed to the ravages of apes and elephants by night and +of birds by day. The hungry blacks do not always wait till the corn is +ripe, but eat much of it while the ears are still green. The cattle are +kept in separate parks (_murahs_) away from the villages. It is in the +season of the summer rains that the Dinka are most happy and prosperous. +Then the cattle find sweet grass, plentiful water, coolness and shade in +the forest; then the people subsist in comfort on the milk of their flocks +and herds, supplementing it with the millet which they reap and the wild +fruits which they gather in the forest; then they brew the native beer, +then they marry and dance by night under the bright moon of the serene +tropical sky. But in autumn a great change passes over the life of the +community. When October has come, the rains are over, the grass of the +pastures is eaten down or withered, the pools are dry; thirst compels the +whole village, with its lowing herds and bleating flocks, to migrate to +the neighbourhood of the river. Now begins a time of privation and +suffering. There is no grass for the cattle save in some marshy spots, +where the herdsman must fight his rivals in order to win a meagre supply +of fodder for his starveling beasts. There is no milk for the people, no +fruits on the trees, except a bitter sort of acorns, from which a +miserable flour is ground to stay the pangs of hunger. The lean and +famished natives are driven to fish in the river for the tubers of +water-lilies, to grub in the earth for roots, to boil the leaves of trees, +and as a last resource to drink the blood drawn from the necks of their +wretched cattle. The gaunt appearance of the people at this season fills +the beholder with horror. The herds are decimated by famine, but even more +beasts perish by dysentery and other diseases when the first rains cause +the fresh grass to sprout.(61) + +(M19) It is no wonder that the rain, on which the Dinka are so manifestly +dependent for their subsistence, should play a great part in their +religion and superstition. They worship a supreme being whose name of +Dengdit means literally Great Rain.(62) It was he who created the world +and established the present order of things, and it is he who sends down +the rain from the "rain-place," his home in the upper regions of the air. +But according to the Niel Dinka this great being was once incarnate in +human form. Born of a woman, who descended from the sky, he became the +ancestor of a clan which has the rain for its totem; for the recent +researches of Dr. C. G. Seligmann have proved that every Dinka tribe is +divided into a number of clans, each of which reveres as its totem a +species of animals or plants or other natural objects, such as rain or +fire. Animal totems seem to be the commonest; amongst them are the lion, +the elephant, the crocodile, the hippopotamus, the fox, the hyaena, and a +species of small birds called _amur_, clouds of which infest the +cornfields and do great damage to the crops. Each clan speaks of its +totemic animal or plant as its ancestor and refrains from injuring and +eating it. Men of the Crocodile clan, for example, call themselves +"Brothers of the Crocodile," and will neither kill nor eat the animal; +indeed they will not even eat out of any vessel which has held crocodile +flesh. And as they do not injure crocodiles, so they imagine that their +crocodile kinsfolk will not injure them; hence men of this clan swim +freely in the river, even by night, without fear of being attacked by the +dangerous reptiles. And when the totem is a carnivorous animal, members of +the clan may propitiate it by killing sheep and throwing out the flesh to +be devoured by their animal brethren either on the outskirts of the +village or in the river. Members of the Small Bird (_amur_) clan perform +ceremonies to prevent the birds from injuring the crops. The relationship +between a clan and its animal ancestor or totem is commonly explained by a +legend that in the beginning an ancestress gave birth to twins, one of +whom was the totemic animal and the other the human ancestor. Like most +totemic clans, the clans of the Dinka are exogamous, that is, no man may +marry a woman of his own clan. The descent of the clans is in the paternal +line; in other words, every man and woman belongs to his or her father's +clan, not to that of his or her mother. But the Rain clan of the Niel +Dinka has for its ancestor, as we have seen, the supreme god himself, who +deigned to be born of a woman and to live for a long time among men, +ruling over them, till at last he grew very old and disappeared +appropriately, like Romulus, in a great storm of rain. Shrines erected in +his honour appear to be scattered all over the Dinka country and offerings +are made at them. + +(M20) Perhaps without being unduly rash we may conjecture that the great +god of the Dinka, who gives them the rain, was indeed, what tradition +represents him as having been, a man among men, in fact a human +rain-maker, whom at his death the superstition of his fellows promoted to +the rank of a deity above the clouds. Be that as it may, the human +rain-maker (_bain_) is a very important personage among the Dinka to this +day; indeed the men in authority whom travellers dub chiefs or sheikhs are +in fact the actual or potential rain-makers of the tribe or community.(63) +Each of them is believed to be animated by the spirit of a great +rain-maker, which has come down to him through a succession of +rain-makers; and in virtue of this inspiration a successful rain-maker +enjoys very great power and is consulted on all important matters. For +example, in the Bor tribe of Dinka at the present time there is an old but +active rain-maker named Biyordit, who is reputed to have immanent in him a +great and powerful spirit called Lerpiu, and by reason of this reputation +he exercises immense influence over all the Dinka of the Bor and Tain +tribes. While the mighty spirit Lerpiu is supposed to be embodied in the +rain-maker, it is also thought to inhabit a certain hut which serves as a +shrine. In front of the hut stands a post to which are fastened the horns +of many bullocks that have been sacrificed to Lerpiu; and in the hut is +kept a very sacred spear which bears the name of Lerpiu and is said to +have fallen from heaven six generations ago. As fallen stars are also +called Lerpiu, we may suspect that an intimate connexion is supposed to +exist between meteorites and the spirit which animates the rain-maker; nor +would such a connexion seem unnatural to the savage, who observes that +meteorites and rain alike descend from the sky. In spring, about the month +of April, when the new moon is a few days old, a sacrifice of bullocks is +offered to Lerpiu for the purpose of inducing him to move Dengdit, the +great heavenly rain-maker, to send down rain on the parched and thirsty +earth. Two bullocks are led twice round the shrine and afterwards tied by +the rain-maker to the post in front of it. Then the drums beat and the +people, old and young, men and women, dance round the shrine and sing, +while the beasts are being sacrificed, "Lerpiu, our ancestor, we have +brought you a sacrifice. Be pleased to cause rain to fall." The blood of +the bullocks is collected in a gourd, boiled in a pot on the fire, and +eaten by the old and important people of the clan. The horns of the +animals are attached to the post in front of the shrine. + +(M21) In spite, or rather in virtue, of the high honour in which he is +held, no Dinka rain-maker is allowed to die a natural death of sickness or +old age; for the Dinka believe that if such an untoward event were to +happen, the tribe would suffer from disease and famine, and the herds +would not yield their increase. So when a rain-maker feels that he is +growing old and infirm, he tells his children that he wishes to die. Among +the Agar Dinka a large grave is dug and the rain-maker lies down in it on +his right side with his head resting on a skin. He is surrounded by his +friends and relatives, including his younger children; but his elder +children are not allowed to approach the grave lest in their grief and +despair they should do themselves a bodily injury. For many hours, +generally for more than a day, the rain-maker lies without eating or +drinking. From time to time he speaks to the people, recalling the past +history of the tribe, reminding them how he has ruled and advised them, +and instructing them how they are to act in the future. Then, when he has +concluded his admonition, he tells them that it is finished and bids them +cover him up. So the earth is thrown down on him as he lies in the grave, +and he soon dies of suffocation. Such, with minor variations, appears to +be the regular end of the honourable career of a rain-maker in all the +Dinka tribes. The Khor-Adar Dinka told Dr. Seligmann that when they have +dug the grave for their rain-maker they strangle him in his house. The +father and paternal uncle of one of Dr. Seligmann's informants had both +been rain-makers and both had been killed in the most regular and orthodox +fashion. Even if a rain-maker is quite young he will be put to death +should he seem likely to perish of disease. Further, every precaution is +taken to prevent a rain-maker from dying an accidental death, for such an +end, though not nearly so serious a matter as death from illness or old +age, would be sure to entail sickness on the tribe. As soon as a +rain-maker is killed, his valuable spirit is supposed to pass to a +suitable successor, whether a son or other near blood relation. + +(M22) In the Central African kingdom of Unyoro down to recent years custom +required that as soon as the king fell seriously ill or began to break up +from age, he should die by his own hand; for, according to an old +prophecy, the throne would pass away from the dynasty if ever the king +were to die a natural death. He killed himself by draining a poisoned cup. +If he faltered or were too ill to ask for the cup, it was his wife's duty +to administer the poison.(64) When the king of Kibanga, on the Upper +Congo, seems near his end, the sorcerers put a rope round his neck, which +they draw gradually tighter till he dies.(65) If the king of Gingero +happens to be wounded in war, he is put to death by his comrades, or, if +they fail to kill him, by his kinsfolk, however hard he may beg for mercy. +They say they do it that he may not die by the hands of his enemies.(66) +The Jukos are a heathen tribe of the Benue river, a great tributary of the +Niger. In their country "the town of Gatri is ruled by a king who is +elected by the big men of the town as follows. When in the opinion of the +big men the king has reigned long enough, they give out that 'the king is +sick'--a formula understood by all to mean that they are going to kill him, +though the intention is never put more plainly. They then decide who is to +be the next king. How long he is to reign is settled by the influential +men at a meeting; the question is put and answered by each man throwing on +the ground a little piece of stick for each year he thinks the new king +should rule. The king is then told, and a great feast prepared, at which +the king gets drunk on guinea-corn beer. After that he is speared, and the +man who was chosen becomes king. Thus each Juko king knows that he cannot +have very many more years to live, and that he is certain of his +predecessor's fate. This, however, does not seem to frighten candidates. +The same custom of king-killing is said to prevail at Quonde and Wukari as +well as at Gatri."(67) In the three Hausa kingdoms of Gobir, Katsina, and +Daura, in Northern Nigeria, as soon as a king shewed signs of failing +health or growing infirmity, an official who bore the title of Killer of +the Elephant (_kariagiwa_) appeared and throttled him by holding his +windpipe. The king elect was afterwards conducted to the centre of the +town, called Head of the Elephant (_kan giwa_), where he was made to lie +down on a bed. Then a black ox was slaughtered and its blood allowed to +pour all over his body. Next the ox was flayed, and the remains of the +dead king, which had been disembowelled and smoked for seven days over a +slow fire, were wrapt up in the hide and dragged along the ground to the +place of burial, where they were interred in a circular pit. After his +bath of ox blood the new king had to remain for seven days in his mother's +house, undergoing ablutions daily. On the eighth day he was conducted in +state to his palace. In the kingdom of Daura the new monarch had moreover +to step over the corpse of his predecessor.(68) + +(M23) The Matiamvo is a great king or emperor in the interior of Angola. +One of the inferior kings of the country, by name Challa, gave to a +Portuguese expedition the following account of the manner in which the +Matiamvo comes by his end. "It has been customary," he said, "for our +Matiamvos to die either in war or by a violent death, and the present +Matiamvo must meet this last fate, as, in consequence of his great +exactions, he has lived long enough. When we come to this understanding, +and decide that he should be killed, we invite him to make war with our +enemies, on which occasion we all accompany him and his family to the war, +when we lose some of our people. If he escapes unhurt, we return to the +war again and fight for three or four days. We then suddenly abandon him +and his family to their fate, leaving him in the enemy's hands. Seeing +himself thus deserted, he causes his throne to be erected, and, sitting +down, calls his family around him. He then orders his mother to approach; +she kneels at his feet; he first cuts off her head, then decapitates his +sons in succession, next his wives and relatives, and, last of all, his +most beloved wife, called Anacullo. This slaughter being accomplished, the +Matiamvo, dressed in all his pomp, awaits his own death, which immediately +follows, by an officer sent by the powerful neighbouring chiefs, +Caniquinha and Canica. This officer first cuts off his legs and arms at +the joints, and lastly he cuts off his head; after which the head of the +officer is struck off. All the potentates retire from the encampment, in +order not to witness his death. It is my duty to remain and witness his +death, and to mark the place where the head and arms have been deposited +by the two great chiefs, the enemies of the Matiamvo. They also take +possession of all the property belonging to the deceased monarch and his +family, which they convey to their own residence. I then provide for the +funeral of the mutilated remains of the late Matiamvo, after which I +retire to his capital and proclaim the new government. I then return to +where the head, legs, and arms have been deposited, and, for forty slaves, +I ransom them, together with the merchandise and other property belonging +to the deceased, which I give up to the new Matiamvo, who has been +proclaimed. This is what has happened to many Matiamvos, and what must +happen to the present one."(69) + +(M24) It appears to have been a Zulu custom to put the king to death as +soon as he began to have wrinkles or grey hairs. At least this seems +implied in the following passage written by one who resided for some time +at the court of the notorious Zulu tyrant Chaka, in the early part of the +nineteenth century: "The extraordinary violence of the king's rage with me +was mainly occasioned by that absurd nostrum, the hair oil, with the +notion of which Mr. Farewell had impressed him as being a specific for +removing all indications of age. From the first moment of his having heard +that such a preparation was attainable, he evinced a solicitude to procure +it, and on every occasion never forgot to remind us of his anxiety +respecting it; more especially on our departure on the mission his +injunctions were particularly directed to this object. It will be seen +that it is one of the barbarous customs of the Zoolas in their choice or +election of their kings that he must neither have wrinkles nor grey hairs, +as they are both distinguishing marks of disqualification for becoming a +monarch of a warlike people. It is also equally indispensable that their +king should never exhibit those proofs of having become unfit and +incompetent to reign; it is therefore important that they should conceal +these indications so long as they possibly can. Chaka had become greatly +apprehensive of the approach of grey hairs; which would at once be the +signal for him to prepare to make his exit from this sublunary world, it +being always followed by the death of the monarch."(70) The writer to whom +we are indebted for this instructive anecdote of the hair-oil omits to +specify the mode in which a grey-haired and wrinkled Zulu chief used "to +make his exit from this sublunary world"; but on analogy we may conjecture +that he did so by the simple and perfectly sufficient process of being +knocked on the head. + +(M25) The custom of putting kings to death as soon as they suffered from +any personal defect prevailed two centuries ago in the Caffre kingdom of +Sofala, to the north of the present Zululand. We have seen that these +kings of Sofala, each of whom bore the official name of Quiteve, were +regarded as gods by their people, being entreated to give rain or +sunshine, according as each might be wanted.(71) Nevertheless a slight +bodily blemish, such as the loss of a tooth, was considered a sufficient +cause for putting one of these god-men to death, as we learn from the +following passage of an old Portuguese historian: "It was formerly the +custom of the kings of this land to commit suicide by taking poison when +any disaster or natural physical defect fell upon them, such as impotence, +infectious disease, the loss of their front teeth, by which they were +disfigured, or any other deformity or affliction. To put an end to such +defects they killed themselves, saying that the king should be free from +any blemish, and if not, it was better for his honour that he should die +and seek another life where he would be made whole, for there everything +was perfect. But the Quiteve who reigned when I was in those parts would +not imitate his predecessors in this, being discreet and dreaded as he +was; for having lost a front tooth he caused it to be proclaimed +throughout the kingdom that all should be aware that he had lost a tooth +and should recognise him when they saw him without it, and if his +predecessors killed themselves for such things they were very foolish, and +he would not do so; on the contrary, he would be very sorry when the time +came for him to die a natural death, for his life was very necessary to +preserve his kingdom and defend it from his enemies; and he recommended +his successors to follow his example."(72) The same historian tells us +that "near the kingdom of Quiteve is another of which Sedanda is king, the +laws and customs of which are very similar to those of Quiteve, all these +Kaffirs being of the same nation, and these two kingdoms having formerly +been one, as I shall relate hereafter. When I was in Sofala it happened +that King Sedanda was seized with a severe and contagious leprosy, and +seeing that his complaint was incurable, having named the prince who was +to succeed him, he took poison and died, according to the custom of those +kings when they are afflicted with any physical deformity."(73) + +(M26) The king of Sofala who dared to survive the loss of his front tooth +was thus a bold reformer like Ergamenes, king of Ethiopia. We may +conjecture that the ground for putting the Ethiopian kings to death was, +as in the case of the Zulu and Sofala kings, the appearance on their +person of any bodily defect or sign of decay; and that the oracle which +the priests alleged as the authority for the royal execution was to the +effect that great calamities would result from the reign of a king who had +any blemish on his body; just as an oracle warned Sparta against a "lame +reign," that is, the reign of a lame king.(74) It is some confirmation of +this conjecture that the kings of Ethiopia were chosen for their size, +strength, and beauty long before the custom of killing them was +abolished.(75) To this day the Sultan of Wadai must have no obvious bodily +defect, and the king of Angoy cannot be crowned if he has a single +blemish, such as a broken or a filed tooth or the scar of an old +wound.(76) According to the Book of Acaill and many other authorities no +king who was afflicted with a personal blemish might reign over Ireland at +Tara. Hence, when the great King Cormac Mac Art lost one eye by an +accident, he at once abdicated.(77) It is only natural, therefore, to +suppose, especially with the other African examples before us, that any +bodily defect or symptom of old age appearing on the person of the +Ethiopian monarch was the signal for his execution. At a later time it is +recorded that if the king of Ethiopia became maimed in any part of his +body all his courtiers had to suffer the same mutilation.(78) But this +rule may perhaps have been instituted at the time when the custom of +killing the king for any personal defect was abolished; instead of +compelling the king to die because, for example, he had lost a tooth, all +his subjects would be obliged to lose a tooth, and thus the invidious +superiority of the subjects over the king would be cancelled. A rule of +this sort is still observed in the same region at the court of the Sultans +of Darfur. When the Sultan coughs, every one makes the sound _ts ts_ by +striking the tongue against the root of the upper teeth; when he sneezes, +the whole assembly utters a sound like the cry of the jeko; when he falls +off his horse, all his followers must fall off likewise; if any one of +them remains in the saddle, no matter how high his rank, he is laid on the +ground and beaten.(79) At the court of the king of Uganda in central +Africa, when the king laughs, every one laughs; when he sneezes, every one +sneezes; when he has a cold, every one pretends to have a cold; when he +has his hair cut, so has everybody.(80) At the court of Boni in Celebes it +is a rule that whatever the king does all the courtiers must do. If he +stands, they stand; if he sits, they sit; if he falls off his horse, they +fall off their horses; if he bathes, they bathe, and passers-by must go +into the water in the dress, good or bad, which they happen to have +on.(81) When the emperor of China laughs, the mandarins in attendance +laugh also; when he stops laughing, they stop; when he is sad, their +countenances are chopfallen; "you would say that their faces are on +springs, and that the emperor can touch the springs and set them in motion +at pleasure."(82) But to return to the death of the divine king. + +(M27) Many days' journey to the north-east of Abomey, the old capital of +Dahomey, lies the kingdom of Eyeo. "The Eyeos are governed by a king, no +less absolute than the king of Dahomy, yet subject to a regulation of +state, at once humiliating and extraordinary. When the people have +conceived an opinion of his ill-government, which is sometimes insidiously +infused into them by the artifice of his discontented ministers, they send +a deputation to him with a present of parrots' eggs, as a mark of its +authenticity, to represent to him that the burden of government must have +so far fatigued him that they consider it full time for him to repose from +his cares and indulge himself with a little sleep. He thanks his subjects +for their attention to his ease, retires to his own apartment as if to +sleep, and there gives directions to his women to strangle him. This is +immediately executed, and his son quietly ascends the throne upon the +usual terms of holding the reins of government no longer than whilst he +merits the approbation of the people." About the year 1774, a king of +Eyeo, whom his ministers attempted to remove in the customary manner, +positively refused to accept the proffered parrots' eggs at their hands, +telling them that he had no mind to take a nap, but on the contrary was +resolved to watch for the benefit of his subjects. The ministers, +surprised and indignant at his recalcitrancy, raised a rebellion, but were +defeated with great slaughter, and thus by his spirited conduct the king +freed himself from the tyranny of his councillors and established a new +precedent for the guidance of his successors.(83) However, the old custom +seems to have revived and persisted until late in the nineteenth century, +for a Catholic missionary, writing in 1884, speaks of the practice as if +it were still in vogue.(84) Another missionary, writing in 1881, thus +describes the usage of the Egbas and the Yorubas of west Africa: "Among +the customs of the country one of the most curious is unquestionably that +of judging and punishing the king. Should he have earned the hatred of his +people by exceeding his rights, one of his councillors, on whom the heavy +duty is laid, requires of the prince that he shall 'go to sleep,' which +means simply 'take poison and die.' If his courage fails him at the +supreme moment, a friend renders him this last service, and quietly, +without betraying the secret, they prepare the people for the news of the +king's death. In Yoruba the thing is managed a little differently. When a +son is born to the king of Oyo, they make a model of the infant's right +foot in clay and keep it in the house of the elders (_ogboni_). If the +king fails to observe the customs of the country, a messenger, without +speaking a word, shews him his child's foot. The king knows what that +means. He takes poison and goes to sleep."(85) The old Prussians +acknowledged as their supreme lord a ruler who governed them in the name +of the gods, and was known as God's Mouth (_Kirwaido_). When he felt +himself weak and ill, if he wished to leave a good name behind him, he had +a great heap made of thorn-bushes and straw, on which he mounted and +delivered a long sermon to the people, exhorting them to serve the gods +and promising to go to the gods and speak for the people. Then he took +some of the perpetual fire which burned in front of the holy oak-tree, and +lighting the pile with it burned himself to death.(86) + +(M28) We need not doubt the truth of this last tradition. Fanaticism or +the mere love of notoriety has led men in other ages and other lands to +court death in the flames. In antiquity the mountebank Peregrinus, after +bidding for fame in the various characters of a Christian martyr, a +shameless cynic, and a rebel against Rome, ended his disreputable and +vainglorious career by publicly burning himself at the Olympic festival in +the presence of a crowd of admirers and scoffers, among whom was the +satirist Lucian.(87) Buddhist monks in China sometimes seek to attain +Nirvana by the same method, the flame of their religious zeal being fanned +by a belief that the merit of their death redounds to the good of the +whole community, while the praises which are showered upon them in their +lives, and the prospect of the honours and worship which await them after +death, serve as additional incentives to suicide. The beautiful mountains +of Tien-tai, in the district of Tai-chow, are, or were till lately, the +scene of many such voluntary martyrdoms. The victims are monks who, weary +of the vanities of earth, have withdrawn even from their monasteries and +spent years alone in one or other of the hermitages which are scattered +among the ravines and precipices of this wild and secluded region. Their +fancy having been wrought and their resolution strung to the necessary +pitch by a life of solitude and brooding contemplation, they announce +their intention and fix the day of their departure from this world of +shadows, always choosing for that purpose a festival which draws a crowd +of worshippers and pilgrims to one of the many monasteries of the +district. Advertisements of the approaching solemnity are posted +throughout the country, and believers are invited to attend and assist the +martyrs with their prayers. From three to five monks are said thus to +commit themselves to the flames every year at Tien-tai. They prepare by +fasting and ablution for the last fiery trial of their faith. An upright +chest containing a seat is placed in a brick furnace, and the space +between the chest and the walls of the furnace is filled with fuel. The +doomed man takes his seat in the chest; the door is shut on him and +barred; fire is applied to the combustibles, and consumes the candidate +for heaven. When all is over, the charred remains are raked together, +worshipped, and reverently buried in a dagoba or shrine destined for the +preservation and worship of the relics of saints. The victims, it is said, +are not always voluntary. In remote districts unscrupulous priests have +been known to stupefy a clerical brother with drugs and then burn him +publicly, an unwilling martyr, as a means of spreading the renown of the +monastery and thereby attracting the alms of the faithful. On the +twenty-eighth of January 1888 the Spiritual-hill monastery, distant about +a day's journey from the city of Wen-chow, witnessed the voluntary death +by fire of two monks who bore the euphonious names of +Perceptive-intelligence and Effulgent-glamour. Before they entered the +furnaces, the spectators prayed them to become after death the spiritual +guardians of the neighbourhood, to protect it from all evil influences, +and to grant luck in trade, fine seasons, plentiful harvests, and every +other blessing. The martyrs complaisantly promised to comply with these +requests, and were thereupon worshipped as living Buddhas, while a stream +of gifts poured into the coffers of the monastery.(88) Among the Esquimaux +of Bering Strait a shaman has been known to burn himself alive in the +expectation of returning to life with much stronger powers than he had +possessed before.(89) + +(M29) But the suicides by fire of Chinese Buddhists and Esquimaux +sorcerers have been far surpassed by the frenzies of Christian fanaticism. +In the seventeenth century the internal troubles of their unhappy country, +viewed in the dim light of prophecy, created a widespread belief among the +Russian people that the end of the world was at hand, and that the reign +of Antichrist was about to begin. We know from Scripture that the old +serpent, which is the devil, has been or will be shut up under lock and +key for a thousand years,(90) and that the number of the Beast is six +hundred and sixty-six.(91) A simple mathematical calculation, based on +these irrefragable data, pointed to the year one thousand six hundred and +sixty-six as the date when the final consummation of all things and the +arrival of the Beast in question might be confidently anticipated. When +the year came and went and still, to the general surprise, the animal +failed to put in an appearance, the calculations were revised, it was +discovered that an error had crept into them, and the world was respited +for another thirty-three years. But though opinions differed as to the +precise date of the catastrophe, the pious were unanimous in their +conviction of its proximity. Accordingly some of them ceased to till their +fields, abandoned their houses, and on certain nights of the year expected +the sound of the last trump in coffins which they took the precaution of +closing, lest their senses, or what remained of them, should be +overpowered by the awful vision of the Judgment Day. + +(M30) It would have been well if the delusion of their disordered +intellects had stopped there. Unhappily in many cases it went much +further, and suicide, universal suicide, was preached by fervent +missionaries as the only means to escape the snares of Antichrist and to +pass from the sins and sorrows of this fleeting world to the eternal joys +of heaven. Whole communities hailed with enthusiasm the gospel of death, +and hastened to put its precepts in practice. An epidemic of suicide raged +throughout northern and north-eastern Russia. At first the favourite mode +of death was by starvation. In the forest of Vetlouga, for example, an old +man founded an establishment for the use of religious suicides. It was a +building without doors and windows. The aspirants to heaven were lowered +into it through a hole in the roof, the hatch was battened down on them, +and men armed with clubs patrolled the outer walls to prevent the +prisoners from escaping. Hundreds of persons thus died a lingering death. +At first the sounds of devotion issued from the walls; but as time went on +these were replaced by entreaties for food, prayers for mercy, and finally +imprecations on the miscreant who had lured these misguided beings to +destruction and on the parents who had brought them into the world to +suffer such exquisite torments. Thus death by famine was attended by some +obvious disadvantages. It was slow: it opened the door to repentance: it +occasionally admitted of rescue. Accordingly death by fire was preferred +as surer and more expeditious. Priests, monks, and laymen scoured the +villages and hamlets preaching salvation by the flames, some of them +decked in the spoils of their victims; for the motives of the preachers +were often of the basest sort. They did not spare even the children, but +seduced them by promises of the gay clothes, the apples, the nuts, the +honey they would enjoy in heaven. Sometimes when the people hesitated, +these infamous wretches decided the wavering minds of their dupes by a +false report that the troops were coming to deliver them up to Antichrist, +and so to rob them of a blissful eternity. Then men, women, and children +rushed into the flames. Sometimes hundreds, and even thousands, thus +perished together. An area was enclosed by barricades, fuel was heaped up +in it, the victims huddled together, fire set to the whole, and the +sacrifice consummated. Any who in their agony sought to escape were driven +or thrown back into the flames, sometimes by their own relations. These +sinister fires generally blazed at night, reddening the sky till daybreak. +In the morning nothing remained but charred bodies gnawed by prowling +dogs; but the stench of burnt human flesh poisoned the air for days +afterwards.(92) + +(M31) As the Christians expected the arrival of Antichrist in the year +1666, so the Jews cheerfully anticipated the long-delayed advent of their +Messiah in the same fateful year. A Jew of Smyrna, by name Sabatei-Sevi, +availed himself of this general expectation to pose as the Messiah in +person. He was greeted with enthusiasm. Jews from many parts of Europe +hastened to pay their homage and, what was still better, their money to +the future deliverer of his country, who in return parcelled out among +them, with the greatest liberality, estates in the Holy Land which did not +belong to him. But the alternative of death by impalement or conversion to +Mohammedanism, which the Sultan submitted to his consideration, induced +him to revise his theological opinions, and on looking into the matter +more closely he discovered that his true mission in life was to preach the +total abolition of the Jewish religion and the substitution for it of +Islam.(93) + + + + +§ 3. Kings killed at the End of a Fixed Term. + + +(M32) In the cases hitherto described, the divine king or priest is +suffered by his people to retain office until some outward defect, some +visible symptom of failing health or advancing age, warns them that he is +no longer equal to the discharge of his divine duties; but not until such +symptoms have made their appearance is he put to death. Some peoples, +however, appear to have thought it unsafe to wait for even the slightest +symptom of decay and have preferred to kill the king while he was still in +the full vigour of life. Accordingly, they have fixed a term beyond which +he might not reign, and at the close of which he must die, the term fixed +upon being short enough to exclude the probability of his degenerating +physically in the interval. In some parts of southern India the period +fixed was twelve years. Thus, according to an old traveller, in the +province of Quilacare, about twenty leagues to the north-east of Cape +Comorin, "there is a Gentile house of prayer, in which there is an idol +which they hold in great account, and every twelve years they celebrate a +great feast to it, whither all the Gentiles go as to a jubilee. This +temple possesses many lands and much revenue: it is a very great affair. +This province has a king over it, who has not more than twelve years to +reign from jubilee to jubilee. His manner of living is in this wise, that +is to say: when the twelve years are completed, on the day of this feast +there assemble together innumerable people, and much money is spent in +giving food to Bramans. The king has a wooden scaffolding made, spread +over with silken hangings: and on that day he goes to bathe at a tank with +great ceremonies and sound of music, after that he comes to the idol and +prays to it, and mounts on to the scaffolding, and there before all the +people he takes some very sharp knives, and begins to cut off his nose, +and then his ears, and his lips, and all his members, and as much flesh +off himself as he can; and he throws it away very hurriedly until so much +of his blood is spilled that he begins to faint, and then he cuts his +throat himself. And he performs this sacrifice to the idol, and whoever +desires to reign other twelve years and undertake this martyrdom for love +of the idol, has to be present looking on at this: and from that place +they raise him up as king."(94) + +(M33) The king of Calicut, on the Malabar coast, bears the title of +Samorin or Samory, which in the native language is said to mean "God on +earth."(95) He "pretends to be of a higher rank than the Brahmans, and to +be inferior only to the invisible gods; a pretention that was acknowledged +by his subjects, but which is held as absurd and abominable by the +Brahmans, by whom he is only treated as a Sudra."(96) Formerly the Samorin +had to cut his throat in public at the end of a twelve years' reign. But +towards the end of the seventeenth century the rule had been modified as +follows: "Many strange customs were observed in this country in former +times, and some very odd ones are still continued. It was an ancient +custom for the Samorin to reign but twelve years, and no longer. If he +died before his term was expired, it saved him a troublesome ceremony of +cutting his own throat, on a publick scaffold erected for the purpose. He +first made a feast for all his nobility and gentry, who are very numerous. +After the feast he saluted his guests, and went on the scaffold, and very +decently cut his own throat in the view of the assembly, and his body was, +a little while after, burned with great pomp and ceremony, and the +grandees elected a new Samorin. Whether that custom was a religious or a +civil ceremony, I know not, but it is now laid aside. And a new custom is +followed by the modern Samorins, that jubilee is proclaimed throughout his +dominions, at the end of twelve years, and a tent is pitched for him in a +spacious plain, and a great feast is celebrated for ten or twelve days, +with mirth and jollity, guns firing night and day, so at the end of the +feast any four of the guests that have a mind to gain a crown by a +desperate action, in fighting their way through 30 or 40,000 of his +guards, and kill the Samorin in his tent, he that kills him succeeds him +in his empire. In anno 1695, one of those jubilees happened, and the tent +pitched near Pennany, a seaport of his, about fifteen leagues to the +southward of Calicut. There were but three men that would venture on that +desperate action, who fell in, with sword and target, among the guard, +and, after they had killed and wounded many, were themselves killed. One +of the desperados had a nephew of fifteen or sixteen years of age, that +kept close by his uncle in the attack on the guards, and, when he saw him +fall, the youth got through the guards into the tent, and made a stroke at +his Majesty's head, and had certainly despatched him if a large brass lamp +which was burning over his head had not marred the blow; but, before he +could make another, he was killed by the guards; and, I believe, the same +Samorin reigns yet. I chanced to come that time along the coast and heard +the guns for two or three days and nights successively."(97) + +(M34) The English traveller, whose account I have quoted, did not himself +witness the festival he describes, though he heard the sound of the firing +in the distance. Fortunately, exact records of these festivals and of the +number of men who perished at them have been preserved in the archives of +the royal family at Calicut. In the latter part of the nineteenth century +they were examined by Mr. W. Logan, with the personal assistance of the +reigning king, and from his work it is possible to gain an accurate +conception both of the tragedy and of the scene where it was periodically +enacted down to 1743, when the ceremony took place for the last time. + +(M35) The festival at which the king of Calicut staked his crown and his +life on the issue of battle was known as the _Maha Makham_ or Great +Sacrifice. It fell every twelfth year, when the planet Jupiter was in +retrograde motion in the sign of the Crab, and it lasted twenty-eight +days, culminating at the time of the eighth lunar asterism in the month of +Makaram. As the date of the festival was determined by the position of +Jupiter in the sky, and the interval between two festivals was twelve +years, which is roughly Jupiter's period of revolution round the sun,(98) +we may conjecture that the splendid planet was supposed to be in a special +sense the king's star and to rule his destiny, the period of its +revolution in heaven corresponding to the period of his reign on earth. +However that may be, the ceremony was observed with great pomp at the +Tirunavayi temple, on the north bank of the Ponnani River. The spot is +close to the present railway line. As the train rushes by, you can just +catch a glimpse of the temple, almost hidden behind a clump of trees on +the river bank. From the western gateway of the temple a perfectly +straight road, hardly raised above the level of the surrounding +rice-fields and shaded by a fine avenue, runs for half a mile to a high +ridge with a precipitous bank, on which the outlines of three or four +terraces can still be traced. On the topmost of these terraces the king +took his stand on the eventful day. The view which it commands is a fine +one. Across the flat expanse of the rice-fields, with the broad placid +river winding through them, the eye ranges eastward to high tablelands, +their lower slopes embowered in woods, while afar off looms the great +chain of the western Ghauts, and in the furthest distance the Neilgherries +or Blue Mountains, hardly distinguishable from the azure of the sky above. + +(M36) But it was not to the distant prospect that the king's eyes +naturally turned at this crisis of his fate. His attention was arrested by +a spectacle nearer at hand. For all the plain below was alive with troops, +their banners waving gaily in the sun, the white tents of their many camps +standing sharply out against the green and gold of the rice-fields. Forty +thousand fighting men or more were gathered there to defend the king. But +if the plain swarmed with soldiers, the road that cuts across it from the +temple to the king's stand was clear of them. Not a soul was stirring on +it. Each side of the way was barred by palisades, and from the palisades +on either hand a long hedge of spears, held by strong arms, projected into +the empty road, their blades meeting in the middle and forming a +glittering arch of steel. All was now ready. The king waved his sword. At +the same moment a great chain of massy gold, enriched with bosses, was +placed on an elephant at his side. That was the signal. On the instant a +stir might be seen half a mile away at the gate of the temple. A group of +swordsmen, decked with flowers and smeared with ashes, has stepped out +from the crowd. They have just partaken of their last meal on earth, and +they now receive the last blessings and farewells of their friends. A +moment more and they are coming down the lane of spears, hewing and +stabbing right and left at the spearmen, winding and turning and writhing +among the blades as if they had no bones in their bodies. It is all in +vain. One after the other they fall, some nearer the king, some further +off, content to die, not for the shadow of a crown, but for the mere sake +of approving their dauntless valour and swordsmanship to the world. On the +last days of the festival the same magnificent display of gallantry, the +same useless sacrifice of life was repeated again and again. Yet perhaps +no sacrifice is wholly useless which proves that there are men who prefer +honour to life.(99) + +(M37) "It is a singular custom in Bengal," says an old native historian of +India, "that there is little of hereditary descent in succession to the +sovereignty. There is a throne allotted for the king; there is, in like +manner, a seat or station assigned for each of the _amirs_, _wazirs_, and +_mansabdars_. It is that throne and these stations alone which engage the +reverence of the people of Bengal. A set of dependents, servants, and +attendants are annexed to each of these situations. When the king wishes +to dismiss or appoint any person, whosoever is placed in the seat of the +one dismissed is immediately attended and obeyed by the whole +establishment of dependents, servants, and retainers annexed to the seat +which he occupies. Nay, this rule obtains even as to the royal throne +itself. Whoever kills the king, and succeeds in placing himself on that +throne, is immediately acknowledged as king; all the _amirs_, _wazirs_, +soldiers, and peasants instantly obey and submit to him, and consider him +as being as much their sovereign as they did their former prince, and obey +his orders implicitly. The people of Bengal say, 'We are faithful to the +throne; whoever fills the throne we are obedient and true to it.' "(100) A +custom of the same sort formerly prevailed in the little kingdom of +Passier, on the northern coast of Sumatra. The old Portuguese historian De +Barros, who informs us of it, remarks with surprise that no wise man would +wish to be king of Passier, since the monarch was not allowed by his +subjects to live long. From time to time a sort of fury seized the people, +and they marched through the streets of the city chanting with loud voices +the fatal words, "The king must die!" When the king heard that song of +death he knew that his hour had come. The man who struck the fatal blow +was of the royal lineage, and as soon as he had done the deed of blood and +seated himself on the throne he was regarded as the legitimate king, +provided that he contrived to maintain his seat peaceably for a single +day. This, however, the regicide did not always succeed in doing. When +Fernao Peres d'Andrade, on a voyage to China, put in at Passier for a +cargo of spices, two kings were massacred, and that in the most peaceable +and orderly manner, without the smallest sign of tumult or sedition in the +city, where everything went on in its usual course, as if the murder or +execution of a king were a matter of everyday occurrence. Indeed, on one +occasion three kings were raised to the dangerous elevation and followed +each other on the dusty road of death in a single day. The people defended +the custom, which they esteemed very laudable and even of divine +institution, by saying that God would never allow so high and mighty a +being as a king, who reigned as his vicegerent on earth, to perish by +violence unless for his sins he thoroughly deserved it.(101) Far away from +the tropical island of Sumatra a rule of the same sort appears to have +obtained among the old Slavs. When the captives Gunn and Jarmerik +contrived to slay the king and queen of the Slavs and made their escape, +they were pursued by the barbarians, who shouted after them that if they +would only come back they would reign instead of the murdered monarch, +since by a public statute of the ancients the succession to the throne +fell to the king's assassin. But the flying regicides turned a deaf ear to +promises which they regarded as mere baits to lure them back to +destruction; they continued their flight, and the shouts and clamour of +the barbarians gradually died away in the distance.(102) + +(M38) When kings were bound to suffer death, whether at their own hands or +at the hands of others, on the expiration of a fixed term of years, it was +natural that they should seek to delegate the painful duty, along with +some of the privileges of sovereignty, to a substitute who should suffer +vicariously in their stead. This expedient appears to have been resorted +to by some of the princes of Malabar. Thus we are informed by a native +authority on that country that "in some places all powers both executive +and judicial were delegated for a fixed period to natives by the +sovereign. This institution was styled _Thalavettiparothiam_ or authority +obtained by decapitation. _Parothiam_ is the name of a supreme authority +of those days. The name of the office is still preserved in the Cochin +state, where the village headman is called a _Parathiakaran_. This +_Thalavettiparothiam_ was a terrible but interesting institution. It was +an office tenable for five years during which its bearer was invested with +supreme despotic powers within his jurisdiction. On the expiry of the five +years the man's head was cut off and thrown up in the air amongst a large +concourse of villagers, each of whom vied with the other in trying to +catch it in its course down. He who succeeded was nominated to the post +for the next five years."(103) A similar delegation of the duty of dying +for his country was perhaps practised by the Sultans of Java. At least +such a custom would explain a strange scene which was witnessed at the +court of one of these sultans by the famous traveller Ibn Batuta, a native +of Tangier, who visited the East Indies in the first half of the +fourteenth century. He says: "During my audience with the Sultan I saw a +man who held in his hand a knife like that used by a grape-gleaner. He +placed it on his own neck and spoke for a long time in a language which I +did not understand. After that he seized the knife with both hands at once +and cut his throat. His head fell to the ground, so sharp was the blade +and so great the force with which he used it. I remained dumbfoundered at +his behaviour, but the Sultan said to me, 'Does any one do like that in +your country?' I answered, 'Never did I see such a thing.' He smiled and +replied, 'These people are our slaves, and they kill themselves for love +of us.' Then he commanded that they should take away him who had slain +himself and should burn him. The Sultan's officers, the grandees, the +troops, and the common people attended the cremation. The sovereign +assigned a liberal pension to the children of the deceased, to his wife, +and to his brothers; and they were highly honoured because of his conduct. +A person, who was present at the audience when the event I have described +took place, informed me that the speech made by the man who sacrificed +himself set forth his devotion to the monarch. He said that he wished to +immolate himself out of affection for the sovereign, as his father had +done for love of the prince's father, and as his grandfather had done out +of regard for the prince's grandfather."(104) We may conjecture that +formerly the sultans of Java, like the kings of Quilacare and Calicut, +were bound to cut their own throats at the end of a fixed term of years, +but that at a later time they deputed the painful, though glorious, duty +of dying for their country to the members of a certain family, who +received by way of recompense ample provision during their life and a +handsome funeral at death. + +(M39) A similar mode of religious suicide seems to have been often adopted +in India, especially in Malabar, during the Middle Ages. Thus we are told +by Friar Jordanus that in the Greater India, by which he seems to mean +Malabar and the neighbouring regions, many sacrifice themselves to the +idols. When they are sick or involved in misfortune, they vow themselves +to the idol in case they are delivered. Then, when they have recovered, +they fatten themselves for one or two years; and when another festival +comes round, they cover themselves with flowers, crown themselves with +white garlands, and go singing and playing before the idol, when it is +carried through the land. There, after they have shown off a great deal, +they take a sword with two handles, like those used in currying leather, +put it to the back of their neck, and cutting strongly with both hands +sever their heads from their bodies before the idol.(105) Again, Nicolo +Conti, who travelled in the East in the early part of the fifteenth +century, informs us that in the city of Cambaita "many present themselves +who have determined upon self immolation, having on their neck a broad +circular piece of iron, the fore part of which is round and the hinder +part extremely sharp. A chain attached to the fore part hangs suspended +upon the breast, into which the victims, sitting down with their legs +drawn up and their neck bent, insert their feet. Then, on the speaker +pronouncing certain words, they suddenly stretch out their legs, and at +the same time drawing up their neck, cut off their own head, yielding up +their lives as a sacrifice to their idols. These men are regarded as +saints."(106) Among the Jaintias or Syntengs, a Khasi tribe of Assam, +human sacrifices used to be annually offered on the _Sandhi_ day in the +month of Ashwin. Persons often came forward voluntarily and presented +themselves as victims. This they generally did by appearing before the +Rajah on the last day of Shravan and declaring that the goddess had called +them to herself. After due enquiry, if the would-be victim were found +suitable, it was customary for the Rajah to present him with a golden +anklet and to give him permission to live as he chose and to do what he +liked, the royal treasury undertaking to pay compensation for any damage +he might do in the exercise of his remarkable privileges. But the +enjoyment of these privileges was very short. On the day appointed the +voluntary victim, after bathing and purifying himself, was dressed in new +attire, daubed with red sandal-wood and vermilion, and bedecked with +garlands. Thus arrayed, he sat for a time in meditation and prayer on a +dais in front of the goddess; then he made a sign with his finger, and the +executioner, after uttering the usual formulas, cut off his head, which +was thereafter laid before the goddess on a golden plate. The lungs were +cooked and eaten by such _Kandra Yogis_ as were present, and it is said +that the royal family partook of a small quantity of rice cooked in the +blood of the victim. The ceremony was usually witnessed by crowds of +spectators who assembled from all parts of the neighbouring hills. When +the supply of voluntary victims fell short, emissaries were sent out to +kidnap strangers from other territories, and it was the practice of such +man-hunts that led to the annexation of the Jaintia country by the +British.(107) + +(M40) When once kings, who had hitherto been bound to die a violent death +at the end of a term of years, conceived the happy thought of dying by +deputy in the persons of others, they would very naturally put it in +practice; and accordingly we need not wonder at finding so popular an +expedient, or traces of it, in many lands. Thus, for example, the Bhuiyas +are an aboriginal race of north-eastern India, and one of their chief +seats is Keonjhur. At the installation of a Rajah of Keonjhur a ceremony +is observed which has been described as follows by an English officer who +witnessed it: "Then the sword, a very rusty old weapon, is placed in the +Raja's hands, and one of the Bhuiyas, named Anand Kopat, comes before him, +and kneeling sideways, the Raja touches him on the neck as if about to +strike off his head, and it is said that in former days there was no +fiction in this part of the ceremony. The family of the Kopat hold their +lands on the condition that the victim when required shall be produced. +Anand, however, hurriedly arose after the accolade and disappeared. He +must not be seen for three days; then he presents himself again to the +Raja as miraculously restored to life."(108) Here the custom of putting +the king's proxy to death has dwindled, probably under English influence, +to a mere pretence; but elsewhere it survives, or survived till recent +times, in full force. Cassange, a native state in the interior of Angola, +is ruled by a king, who bears the title of Jaga. When a king is about to +be installed in office, some of the chiefs are despatched to find a human +victim, who may not be related by blood or marriage to the new monarch. +When he comes to the king's camp, the victim is provided with everything +he requires, and all his orders are obeyed as promptly as those of the +sovereign. On the day of the ceremony the king takes his seat on a +perforated iron stool, his chiefs, councillors, and the rest of the people +forming a great circle round about him. Behind the king sits his principal +wife, together with all his concubines. An iron gong, with two small bells +attached to it, is then struck by an official, who continues to ring the +bells during the ceremony. The victim is then introduced and placed in +front of the king, but with his back towards him. Armed with a scimitar +the king then cuts open the man's back, extracts his heart, and having +taken a bite out of it, spits it out and gives it to be burned. The +councillors meantime hold the victim's body so that the blood from the +wound spouts against the king's breast and belly, and, pouring through the +hole in the iron stool, is collected by the chiefs in their hands, who rub +their breasts and beards with it, while they shout, "Great is the king and +the rites of the state!" After that the corpse is skinned, cut up, and +cooked with the flesh of an ox, a dog, a hen, and some other animals. The +meal thus prepared is served first to the king, then to the chiefs and +councillors, and lastly to all the people assembled. Any man who refused +to partake of it would be sold into slavery together with his family.(109) +The distinction with which the human victim is here treated before his +execution suggests that he is a substitute for the king. + +(M41) Scandinavian traditions contain some hints that of old the Swedish +kings reigned only for periods of nine years, after which they were put to +death or had to find a substitute to die in their stead. Thus Aun or On, +king of Sweden, is said to have sacrificed to Odin for length of days and +to have been answered by the god that he should live so long as he +sacrificed one of his sons every ninth year. He sacrificed nine of them in +this manner, and would have sacrificed the tenth and last, but the Swedes +would not allow him. So he died and was buried in a mound at Upsala.(110) +Another indication of a similar tenure of the crown occurs in a curious +legend of the disposition and banishment of Odin. Offended at his +misdeeds, the other gods outlawed and exiled him, but set up in his place +a substitute, Oller by name, a cunning wizard, to whom they accorded the +symbols both of royalty and of godhead. The deputy bore the name of Odin, +and reigned for nearly ten years, when he was driven from the throne, +while the real Odin came to his own again. His discomfited rival retired +to Sweden and was afterwards slain in an attempt to repair his shattered +fortunes.(111) As gods are often merely men who loom large through the +mists of tradition, we may conjecture that this Norse legend preserves a +confused reminiscence of ancient Swedish kings who reigned for nine or ten +years together, then abdicated, delegating to others the privilege of +dying for their country. The great festival which was held at Upsala every +nine years may have been the occasion on which the king or his deputy was +put to death. We know that human sacrifices formed part of the rites.(112) + + + + +§ 4. Octennial Tenure of the Kingship. + + +(M42) There are some grounds for believing that the reign of many ancient +Greek kings was limited to eight years, or at least that at the end of +every period of eight years a new consecration, a fresh outpouring of the +divine grace, was regarded as necessary in order to enable them to +discharge their civil and religious duties. Thus it was a rule of the +Spartan constitution that every eighth year the ephors should choose a +clear and moonless night and sitting down observe the sky in silence. If +during their vigil they saw a meteor or shooting star, they inferred that +the king had sinned against the deity, and they suspended him from his +functions until the Delphic or Olympic oracle should reinstate him in +them. This custom, which has all the air of great antiquity, was not +suffered to remain a dead letter even in the last period of the Spartan +monarchy; for in the third century before our era a king, who had rendered +himself obnoxious to the reforming party, was actually deposed on various +trumped-up charges, among which the allegation that the ominous sign had +been seen in the sky took a prominent place.(113) When we compare this +custom with the evidence to be presently adduced of an eight years' tenure +of the kingship in Greece, we shall probably agree with K. O. Mueller(114) +that the quaint Spartan practice was much more than a mere antiquarian +curiosity; it was the attenuated survival of an institution which may once +have had great significance, and it throws an important light on the +restrictions and limitations anciently imposed by religion on the Dorian +kingship. What exactly was the import of a meteor in the opinion of the +old Dorians we can hardly hope to determine; one thing only is clear, they +regarded it as a portent of so ominous and threatening a kind that its +appearance under certain circumstances justified and even required the +deposition of their king. This exaggerated dread of so simple a natural +phenomenon is shared by many savages at the present day; and we shall +hardly err in supposing that the Spartans inherited it from their +barbarous ancestors, who may have watched with consternation, on many a +starry night among the woods of Germany, the flashing of a meteor through +the sky. It may be well, even at the cost of a digression, to illustrate +this primitive superstition by examples. + +(M43) Thus, shooting stars and meteors are viewed with apprehension by the +natives of the Andaman Islands, who suppose them to be lighted faggots +hurled into the air by the malignant spirit of the woods in order to +ascertain the whereabouts of any unhappy wight in his vicinity. Hence if +they happen to be away from their camp when the meteor is seen, they hide +themselves and remain silent for a little before they venture to resume +the work they were at; for example, if they are out fishing they will +crouch at the bottom of the boat.(115) The natives of the Tully River in +Queensland believe falling stars to be the fire-sticks carried about by +the spirits of dead enemies. When they see one shooting through the air +they take it as a sign that an enemy is near, and accordingly they shout +and make as much noise as they can; next morning they all go out in the +direction in which the star fell and look for the tracks of their +foe.(116) The Turrbal tribe of Queensland thought that a falling star was +a medicine-man flying through the air and dropping his fire-stick to kill +somebody; if there was a sick man in the camp, they regarded him as +doomed.(117) The Ngarigo of New South Wales believed the fall of a meteor +to betoken the place where their foes were mustering for war.(118) The +Kaitish tribe of central Australia imagine that the fall of a star marks +the whereabouts of a man who has killed another by means of a magical +pointing-stick or bone. If a member of any group has been killed in this +way, his friends watch for the descent of a meteor, march in that +direction, slay an enemy there, and leave his body lying on the ground. +The friends of the murdered man understand what has happened, and bury his +body where the star fell; for they recognise the spot by the softness of +the earth.(119) The Mara tribe of northern Australia suppose a falling +star to be one of two hostile spirits, father and son, who live up in the +sky and come down occasionally to do harm to men. In this tribe the +profession of medicine-man is strictly hereditary in the stock which has +the falling star for its totem;(120) if these wizards had ever developed +into kings, the descent of a meteor at certain times might have had the +same fatal significance for them as for the kings of Sparta. The Taui +Islanders, to the west of the Bismarck Archipelago, make war in the +direction in which they have observed a star to fall,(121) probably for a +reason like that which induces the Kaitish to do the same. + +(M44) When the Baronga of south Africa see a shooting star they spit on +the ground to avert the evil omen, and cry, "Go away! go away all alone!" +By this they mean that the light, which is so soon to disappear, is not to +take them with it, but to go and die by itself.(122) So when a Masai +perceives the flash of a meteor he spits several times and says, "Be lost! +go in the direction of the enemy!" after which he adds, "Stay away from +me."(123) The Namaquas "are greatly afraid of the meteor which is vulgarly +called a falling star, for they consider it a sign that sickness is coming +upon the cattle, and to escape it they will immediately drive them to some +other parts of the country. They call out to the star how many cattle they +have, and beg of it not to send sickness."(124) The Bechuanas are also +much alarmed at the appearance of a meteor. If they happen to be dancing +in the open air at the time, they will instantly desist and retire hastily +to their huts.(125) The Ewe negroes of Guinea regard a falling star as a +powerful divinity, and worship it as one of their national gods, by the +name of Nyikpla or Nyigbla. In their opinion the falling star is +especially a war-god who marches at the head of the host and leads it to +victory, riding like Castor and Pollux on horseback. But he is also a +rain-god, and the showers are sent by him from the sky. Special priests +are devoted to his worship, with a chief priest at their head, who resides +in the capital. They are known by the red staves which they carry and by +the high-pointed caps, woven of threads and palm-leaves, which they wear +on their heads. In times of drought they call upon their god by night with +wild howls. Once a year an ox is sacrificed to him at the capital, and the +priests consume the flesh. On this occasion the people smear themselves +with the pollen of a certain plant and go in procession through the towns +and villages, singing, dancing, and beating drums.(126) + +(M45) By some Indians of California meteors were called "children of the +moon," and whenever young women saw one of them they fell to the ground +and covered their heads, fearing that, if the meteor saw them, their faces +would become ugly and diseased.(127) The Tarahumares of Mexico fancy that +a shooting star is a dead sorcerer coming to harm a man who harmed him in +life. Hence when they see one they huddle together and scream for +terror.(128) When a German traveller was living with the Bororos of +central Brazil, a splendid meteor fell, spreading dismay through the +Indian village. It was believed to be the soul of a dead medicine-man, who +suddenly appeared in this form to announce that he wanted meat, and that, +as a preliminary measure, he proposed to visit somebody with an attack of +dysentery. Its appearance was greeted with yells from a hundred throats: +men, women, and children swarmed out of their huts like ants whose nest +has been disturbed; and soon watch-fires blazed, round which at a little +distance groups of dusky figures gathered, while in the middle, thrown +into strong relief by the flickering light of the fire, two red-painted +sorcerers reeled and staggered in a state of frantic excitement, snorting +and spitting towards the quarter of the sky where the meteor had run its +brief but brilliant course. Pressing his right hand to his yelling mouth, +each of them held aloft in his extended left, by way of propitiating the +angry star, a bundle of cigarettes. "There!" they seemed to say, "all that +tobacco will we give to ward off the impending visitation. Woe to you, if +you do not leave us in peace."(129) The Lengua Indians of the Gran Chaco +also stand in great fear of meteors, imagining them to be stones hurled +from heaven at the wicked sorcerers who have done people to death by their +charms.(130) When the Abipones beheld a meteor flashing or heard thunder +rolling in the sky, they imagined that one of their medicine-men had died, +and that the flash of light and the peal of thunder were part of his +funeral honours.(131) + +(M46) When the Laughlan Islanders see a shooting star they make a great +noise, for they think it is the old woman who lives in the moon coming +down to earth to catch somebody, who may relieve her of her duties in the +moon while she goes away to the happy spirit-land.(132) In Vedic India a +meteor was believed to be the embodiment of a demon, and on its appearance +certain hymns or incantations, supposed to possess the power of killing +demons, were recited for the purpose of expiating the prodigy.(133) To +this day in India, when women see a falling star, they spit thrice to +scare the demon.(134) Some of the Esthonians at the present time regard +shooting stars as evil spirits.(135) It is a Mohammedan belief that +falling stars are demons or jinn who have attempted to scale the sky, and, +being repulsed by the angels with stones, are hurled headlong, flaming, +from the celestial vault. Hence every true believer at sight of a meteor +should say, "I take refuge with God from the stoned devil."(136) + +(M47) A widespread superstition, of which some examples have already been +given, associates meteors or falling stars with the souls of the dead. +Often they are believed to be the spirits of the departed on their way to +the other world. The Maoris imagine that at death the soul leaves the body +and goes to the nether world in the form of a falling star.(137) The +Kingsmill Islanders deemed a shooting star an omen of death to some member +of the family which occupied the part of the council-house nearest to the +point of the sky whence the meteor took its flight. If the star was +followed by a train of light, it foretold the death of a woman; if not, +the death of a man.(138) When the Wotjobaluk tribe of Victoria see a +shooting star, they think it is falling with the heart of a man who has +been caught by a sorcerer and deprived of his fat.(139) One evening when +Mr. Howitt was talking with an Australian black, a bright meteor was seen +shooting through the sky. The native watched it and remarked, "An old +blackfellow has fallen down there."(140) Among the Yerrunthally tribe of +Queensland the ideas on this subject were even more definite. They thought +that after death they went to a place away among the stars, and that to +reach it they had to climb up a rope; when they had clambered up they let +go the rope, which, as it fell from heaven, appeared to people on earth as +a falling star.(141) The natives of the Prince of Wales Islands, off +Queensland, are much afraid of shooting stars, for they believe them to be +ghosts which, in breaking up, produce young ones of their own kind.(142) +The natives of the Gazelle Peninsula in New Britain think that meteors are +the souls of people who have been murdered or eaten; so at the sight of a +meteor flashing they cry out, "The ghost of a murdered man!"(143) +According to the Sulka of New Britain meteors are souls which have been +flung into the air in order to plunge into the sea; and the train of light +which they leave behind them is a burning tail of dry coco-nut leaves +which has been tied to them by other souls, in order to help them to wing +their way through the air.(144) The Caffres of South Africa often say that +a shooting star is the sign of the death of some chief, and at sight of it +they will spit on the ground as a mark of friendly feeling towards the +dead man.(145) Similarly the Ababua of the Congo valley think that a chief +will die in the village into which a star appears to fall, unless the +danger of death be averted by a particular dance.(146) In the opinion of +the Masai, the fall of a meteor signifies the death of some one; at sight +of it they pray that the victim may be one of their enemies.(147) The +Wambugwe of eastern Africa fancy that the stars are men, of whom one dies +whenever a star is seen to fall.(148) The Tinneh Indians and the Tchiglit +Esquimaux of north-western America believe that human life on earth is +influenced by the stars, and they take a shooting star to be a sign that +some one has died.(149) The Lolos, an aboriginal tribe of western China, +hold that for each person on earth there is a corresponding star in the +sky. Hence when a man is ill, they sacrifice wine to his star and light +four and twenty lamps outside of his room. On the day after the funeral +they dig a hole in the chamber of death and pray the dead man's star to +descend and be buried in it. If this precaution were not taken, the star +might fall and hit somebody and hurt him very much.(150) In classical +antiquity there was a popular notion that every human being had his own +star in the sky, which shone bright or dim according to his good or evil +fortune, and fell in the form of a meteor when he died.(151) + +(M48) Superstitions of the same sort are still commonly to be met with in +Europe. Thus in some parts of Germany they say that at the birth of a man +a new star is set in the sky, and that as it burns brilliantly or faintly +he grows rich or poor; finally when he dies it drops from the sky in the +likeness of a shooting star.(152) Similarly in Brittany, Transylvania, +Bohemia, the Abruzzi, the Romagna, and the Esthonian island of Oesel it is +thought by some that every man has his own particular star in the sky, and +that when it falls in the shape of a meteor he expires.(153) A like belief +is entertained by Polish Jews.(154) In Styria they say that when a +shooting star is seen a man has just died, or a poor soul been released +from purgatory.(155) The Esthonians believe that if any one sees a falling +star on New Year's night he will die or be visited by a serious illness +that year.(156) In Belgium and many parts of France the people suppose +that a meteor is a soul which has just quitted the body, sometimes that it +is specially the soul of an unbaptized infant or of some one who has died +without absolution. At sight of it they say that you should cross yourself +and pray, or that if you wish for something while the star is falling you +will be sure to get it.(157) Among the Vosges Mountains in the warm nights +of July it is not uncommon to see whole showers of shooting stars. It is +generally agreed that these stars are souls, but some difference of +opinion exists as to whether they are souls just taking leave of earth, or +tortured by the fires of purgatory, or on their passage from purgatory to +heaven.(158) The last and most cheering of these views is held by the +French peasantry of Beauce and Perche and by the Italian peasantry of the +Abruzzi, and charitable people pray for the deliverance of a soul at the +sight of a falling star.(159) The downward direction of its flight might +naturally suggest a different goal; and accordingly other people have seen +in the transient flame of a meteor the descent of a soul from heaven to be +born on earth. In the Punjaub, for example, Hindoos believe that the +length of a soul's residence in the realms of bliss is exactly +proportioned to the sums which the man distributed in charity during his +life; and that when these are exhausted his time in heaven is up, and down +he comes.(160) In Polynesia a shooting star was held to be the flight of a +spirit, and to presage the birth of a great prince.(161) The Mandans of +north America fancied that the stars were dead people, and that when a +woman was brought to bed a star fell from heaven, and entering into her +was born as a child.(162) On the Biloch frontier of the Punjaub each man +is held to have his star, and he may not journey in particular directions +when his star is in certain positions. If duty compels him to travel in +the forbidden direction, he takes care before setting out to bury his +star, or rather a figure of it cut out of cloth, so that it may not see +what he is doing.(163) + +(M49) Which, if any, of these superstitions moved the barbarous Dorians of +old to depose their kings whenever at a certain season a meteor flamed in +the sky, we cannot say. Perhaps they had a vague general notion that its +appearance signified the dissatisfaction of the higher powers with the +state of the commonwealth; and since in primitive society the king is +commonly held responsible for all untoward events, whatever their origin, +the natural course was to relieve him of duties which he had proved +himself incapable of discharging. But it may be that the idea in the minds +of these rude barbarians was more definite. Possibly, like some people in +Europe at the present day, they thought that every man had his star in the +sky, and that he must die when it fell. The king would be no exception to +the rule, and on a certain night of a certain year, at the end of a cycle, +it might be customary to watch the sky in order to mark whether the king's +star was still in the ascendant or near its setting. The appearance of a +meteor on such a night--of a star precipitated from the celestial +vault--might prove for the king not merely a symbol but a sentence of +death. It might be the warrant for his execution. + +(M50) If the tenure of the regal office was formerly limited among the +Spartans to eight years, we may naturally ask, why was that precise period +selected as the measure of a king's reign? The reason is probably to be +found in those astronomical considerations which determined the early +Greek calendar. The difficulty of reconciling lunar with solar time is one +of the standing puzzles which has taxed the ingenuity of men who are +emerging from barbarism. Now an octennial cycle is the shortest period at +the end of which sun and moon really mark time together after overlapping, +so to say, throughout the whole of the interval. Thus, for example, it is +only once in every eight years that the full moon coincides with the +longest or shortest day; and as this coincidence can be observed with the +aid of a simple dial, the observation is naturally one of the first to +furnish a base for a calendar which shall bring lunar and solar times into +tolerable, though not exact, harmony.(164) But in early days the proper +adjustment of the calendar is a matter of religious concern, since on it +depends a knowledge of the right seasons for propitiating the deities +whose favour is indispensable to the welfare of the community.(165) No +wonder, therefore, that the king, as the chief priest of the state, or as +himself a god, should be liable to deposition or death at the end of an +astronomical period. When the great luminaries had run their course on +high, and were about to renew the heavenly race, it might well be thought +that the king should renew his divine energies, or prove them unabated, +under pain of making room for a more vigorous successor. In southern +India, as we have seen, the king's reign and life terminated with the +revolution of the planet Jupiter round the sun. In Greece, on the other +hand, the king's fate seems to have hung in the balance at the end of +every eight years, ready to fly up and kick the beam as soon as the +opposite scale was loaded with a falling star. + +(M51) The same train of thought may explain an ancient Greek custom which +appears to have required that a homicide should be banished his country, +and do penance for a period of eight or nine years.(166) With the +beginning of a new cycle or great year, as it was called, it might be +thought that all nature was regenerate, all old scores wiped out. +According to Pindar, the dead whose guilt had been purged away by an abode +of eight years in the nether world were born again on earth in the ninth +year as glorious kings, athletes, and sages.(167) The doctrine may well be +an old popular belief rather than a mere poetical fancy. If so, it would +supply a fresh reason for the banishment of a homicide during the years +that the angry ghost of his victim might at any moment issue from its +prison-house and pounce on him. Once the perturbed spirit had been happily +reborn, he might be supposed to forgive, if not to forget, the man who had +done him an injury in a former life. + +(M52) Whatever its origin may have been, the cycle of eight years appears +to have coincided with the normal length of the king's reign in other +parts of Greece besides Sparta. Thus Minos, king of Cnossus in Crete, +whose great palace has been unearthed in recent years, is said to have +held office for periods of eight years together. At the end of each period +he retired for a season to the oracular cave on Mount Ida, and there +communed with his divine father Zeus, giving him an account of his +kingship in the years that were past, and receiving from him instructions +for his guidance in those which were to come.(168) The tradition plainly +implies that at the end of every eight years the king's sacred powers +needed to be renewed by intercourse with the godhead, and that without +such a renewal he would have forfeited his right to the throne. We may +surmise that among the solemn ceremonies which marked the beginning or the +end of the eight years' cycle the sacred marriage of the king with the +queen played an important part, and that in this marriage we have the true +explanation of the strange legend of Pasiphae and the bull. It was said +that Pasiphae, the wife of King Minos, fell in love with a wondrous white +bull which rose from the sea, and that in order to gratify her unnatural +passion the artist Daedalus constructed a hollow wooden cow, covered with +a cow's hide, in which the love-sick queen was hidden while the bull +mounted it. The result of their union was the Minotaur, a monster with the +body of a man and the head of a bull, whom the king shut up in the +labyrinth, a building full of such winding and intricate passages that the +prisoner might roam in it for ever without finding the way out.(169) The +legend appears to reflect a mythical marriage of the sun and moon, which +was acted as a solemn rite by the king and queen of Cnossus, wearing the +masks of a bull and cow respectively.(170) To a pastoral people a bull is +the most natural type of vigorous reproductive energy,(171) and as such is +a fitting emblem of the sun. Islanders who, like many of the Cretans, see +the sun daily rising from the sea, might readily compare him to a white +bull issuing from the waves. Indeed, we are expressly told that the +Cretans called the sun a bull.(172) Similarly in ancient Egypt the sacred +bull Mnevis of Heliopolis (the City of the Sun) was deemed an incarnation +of the Sun-god,(173) and for thousands of years the kings of Egypt +delighted to be styled "mighty bull"; many of them inscribed the title on +their _serekh_ or cognisance, which set forth their names in their +character of descendants of Horus.(174) The identification of Pasiphae, +"she who shines on all," with the moon was made long ago by Pausanias, who +saw her image along with that of the sun in a sanctuary on that wild rocky +coast of Messenia where the great range of Taygetus descends seaward in a +long line of naked crags.(175) The horns of the waxing or waning moon +naturally suggest the resemblance of the luminary to a white cow; hence +the ancients represented the goddess of the moon drawn by a team of white +cattle.(176) When we remember that at the court of Egypt the king and +queen figured as god and goddess in solemn masquerades, where the parts of +animal-headed deities were played by masked men and women,(177) we need +have no difficulty in imagining that similar dramas may have been +performed at the court of a Cretan king, whether we suppose them to have +been imported from Egypt or to have had an independent origin. + +(M53) The stories of Zeus and Europa, and of Minos and Britomartis or +Dictynna appear to be only different expressions of the same myth, +different echoes of the same custom. The moon rising from the sea was the +fair maiden Europa coming across the heaving billows from the far eastern +land of Phoenicia, borne or pursued by her suitor the solar bull. The moon +setting in the western waves was the coy Britomartis or Dictynna, who +plunged into the sea to escape the warm embrace of her lover Minos, +himself the sun. The story how the drowning maiden was drawn up in a +fisherman's net may well be, as some have thought, the explanation given +by a simple seafaring folk of the moon's reappearance from the sea in the +east after she had sunk into it in the west.(178) To the mythical fancy of +the ancients the moon was a coy or a wanton maiden, who either fled from +or pursued the sun every month till the fugitive was overtaken and the +lovers enjoyed each other's company at the time when the luminaries are in +conjunction, namely, in the interval between the old and the new moon. +Hence on the principles of sympathetic magic that interval was considered +the time most favourable for human marriages. When the sun and moon are +wedded in the sky, men and women should be wedded on earth. And for the +same reason the ancients chose the interlunar day for the celebration of +the Sacred Marriages of gods and goddesses. Similar beliefs and customs +based on them have been noted among other peoples.(179) It is likely, +therefore, that a king and queen who represented the sun and moon may have +been expected to exercise their conjugal rights above all at the time when +the moon was thought to rest in the arms of the sun. However that may have +been, it would be natural that their union should be consummated with +unusual solemnity every eight years, when the two great luminaries, so to +say, meet and mark time together once more after diverging from each other +more or less throughout the interval. It is true that sun and moon are in +conjunction once every month, but every month their conjunction takes +place at a different point in the sky, until eight revolving years have +brought them together again in the same heavenly bridal chamber where +first they met. + +(M54) Without being unduly rash we may surmise that the tribute of seven +youths and seven maidens whom the Athenians were bound to send to Minos +every eight years had some connexion with the renewal of the king's power +for another octennial cycle. Traditions varied as to the fate which +awaited the lads and damsels on their arrival in Crete; but the common +view appears to have been that they were shut up in the labyrinth, there +to be devoured by the Minotaur, or at least to be imprisoned for +life.(180) Perhaps they were sacrificed by being roasted alive in a bronze +image of a bull, or of a bull-headed man, in order to renew the strength +of the king and of the sun, whom he personated. This at all events is +suggested by the legend of Talos, a bronze man who clutched people to his +breast and leaped with them into the fire, so that they were roasted +alive. He is said to have been given by Zeus to Europa, or by Hephaestus +to Minos, to guard the island of Crete, which he patrolled thrice +daily.(181) According to one account he was a bull,(182) according to +another he was the sun.(183) Probably he was identical with the Minotaur, +and stripped of his mythical features was nothing but a bronze image of +the sun represented as a man with a bull's head. In order to renew the +solar fires, human victims may have been sacrificed to the idol by being +roasted in its hollow body or placed on its sloping hands and allowed to +roll into a pit of fire. It was in the latter fashion that the +Carthaginians sacrificed their offspring to Moloch. The children were laid +on the hands of a calf-headed image of bronze, from which they slid into a +fiery oven, while the people danced to the music of flutes and timbrels to +drown the shrieks of the burning victims.(184) The resemblance which the +Cretan traditions bear to the Carthaginian practice suggests that the +worship associated with the names of Minos and the Minotaur may have been +powerfully influenced by that of a Semitic Baal.(185) In the tradition of +Phalaris, tyrant of Agrigentum, and his brazen bull(186) we may have an +echo of similar rites in Sicily, where the Carthaginian power struck deep +roots. + +(M55) But perhaps the youths and maidens who were sent across the sea to +Cnossus had to perform certain religious duties before they were cast into +the fiery furnace. The same cunning artist Daedalus who planned the +labyrinth and contrived the wooden cow for Pasiphae was said to have made +a dance for Ariadne, daughter of Minos. It represented youths and maidens +dancing in ranks, the youths armed with golden swords, the maidens crowned +with garlands.(187) Moreover, when Theseus landed with Ariadne in Delos on +his return from Crete, he and the young companions whom he had rescued +from the Minotaur are said to have danced a mazy dance in imitation of the +intricate windings of the labyrinth; on account of its sinuous turns the +dance was called "the Crane."(188) Taken together, these two traditions +suggest that the youths and maidens who were sent to Cnossus had to dance +in the labyrinth before they were sacrificed to the bull-headed image. At +all events there are good grounds for thinking that there was a famous +dance which the ancients regularly associated with the Cretan labyrinth. + +(M56) Among the Romans that dance appears to have been known from the +earliest times by the name of Troy or the Game of Troy. Tradition ran that +it was imported into Italy by Aeneas, who transmitted it through his son +Ascanius to the Alban kings, who in their turn handed it down to the +Romans. It was performed by bands of armed youths on horseback. Virgil +compares their complicated evolutions to the windings of the Cretan +labyrinth;(189) and that the comparison is more than a mere poetical +flourish appears from a drawing on a very ancient Etruscan vase found at +Tragliatella. The drawing represents a procession of seven beardless +warriors dancing, accompanied by two armed riders on horseback, who are +also beardless. An inscription proves that the scene depicted is the Game +of Troy; and attached to the procession is a figure of the Cretan +labyrinth,(190) the pattern of which is well known from coins of Cnossus +on which it is often represented.(191) The same pattern, identified by an +inscription, "_Labyrinthus, hic habitat Minotaurus_," is scratched on a +wall at Pompeii; and it is also worked in mosaic on the floor of Roman +apartments, with the figures of Theseus and the Minotaur in the +middle.(192) Roman boys appear to have drawn the very same pattern on the +ground and to have played a game on it, probably a miniature Game of +Troy.(193) Labyrinths of similar type occur as decorations on the floors +of old churches, where they are known as "the Road of Jerusalem"; they +were used for processions. The garden mazes of the Renaissance were +modelled on them. Moreover, they are found very commonly in the north of +Europe, marked out either by raised bands of turf or by rows of stones. +Such labyrinths may be seen in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finnland, the +south coast of Russian Lappland, and even in Iceland. They go by various +names, such as Babylon, Wieland's House, Trojeborg, Troeburg, and so forth, +some of which clearly indicate their connexion with the ancient Game of +Troy. They are used for children's games.(194) + +(M57) A dance or game which has thus spread over Europe and survived in a +fashion to modern times must have been very popular, and bearing in mind +how often with the decay of old faiths the serious rites and pageants of +grown people have degenerated into the sports of children, we may +reasonably ask whether Ariadne's Dance or the Game of Troy may not have +had its origin in religious ritual. The ancients connected it with Cnossus +and the Minotaur. Now we have seen reason to hold, with many other +scholars, that Cnossus was the seat of a great worship of the sun, and +that the Minotaur was a representative or embodiment of the sun-god. May +not, then, Ariadne's dance have been an imitation of the sun's course in +the sky? and may not its intention have been, by means of sympathetic +magic, to aid the great luminary to run his race on high? We have seen +that during an eclipse of the sun the Chilcotin Indians walk in a circle, +leaning on staves, apparently to assist the labouring orb. In Egypt also +the king, who embodied the sun-god, seems to have solemnly walked round +the walls of a temple for the sake of helping the sun on his way.(195) If +there is any truth in this conjecture, it would seem to follow that the +sinuous lines of the labyrinth which the dancers followed in their +evolutions may have represented the ecliptic, the sun's apparent annual +path in the sky. It is some confirmation of this view that on coins of +Cnossus the sun or a star appears in the middle of the labyrinth, the +place which on other coins is occupied by the Minotaur.(196) + +(M58) On the whole the foregoing evidence, slight and fragmentary as it +is, points to the conclusion that at Cnossus the king represented the +sun-god, and that every eight years his divine powers were renewed at a +great festival, which comprised, first, the sacrifice of human victims by +fire to a bull-headed image of the sun, and, second, the marriage of the +king disguised as a bull to the queen disguised as a cow, the two +personating respectively the sun and the moon. + +(M59) Whatever may be thought of these speculations, we know that many +solemn rites were celebrated by the ancient Greeks at intervals of eight +years.(197) Amongst them, two deserve to be noticed here, because it has +been recently suggested, with some appearance of probability, that they +were based on an octennial tenure of the kingship.(198) One was the +Festival of the Crowning at Delphi; the other was the Festival of the +Laurel-bearing at Thebes. In their general features the two festivals seem +to have resembled each other very closely. Both represented dramatically +the slaying of a great water-dragon by a god or hero; in both, the lad who +played the part of the victorious god or hero crowned his brows with a +wreath of sacred laurel and had to submit to a penance and purification +for the slaughter of the beast. At Delphi the legendary slayer of the +dragon was Apollo; at Thebes he was Cadmus.(199) At both places the +legendary penance for the slaughter seems to have been servitude for eight +years.(200) The evidence for the rites of the Delphic festival is fairly +complete, but for the Theban festival it has to be eked out by +vase-paintings, which represent Cadmus crowned with laurel preparing to +attack the dragon or actually in combat with the monster, while goddesses +bend over the champion, holding out wreaths of laurel to him as the mede +of victory.(201) It is true that in historical times Apollo appears to +have ousted Cadmus from the festival, though not from the myth. But at +Thebes the god was plainly a late intruder, for his temple lay outside the +walls, whereas the most ancient sanctuaries stood in the oldest part of +the city, the low hill which took its name of Cadmea from the genuine +Theban hero Cadmus.(202) It is not impossible that at Delphi also, and +perhaps at other places where the same drama was acted,(203) Apollo may +have displaced an old local hero in the honourable office of +dragon-slayer. + +(M60) Both at Thebes and at Delphi the dragon guarded a spring,(204) the +water of which was probably deemed oracular. At Delphi the sacred spring +may have been either Cassotis or the more famed Castaly, which issues from +a narrow gorge, shut in by rocky walls of tremendous height, a little to +the east of Apollo's temple. The waters of both were thought to be endowed +with prophetic power.(205) Probably, too, the monster was supposed to keep +watch and ward over the sacred laurel, from which the victor in the combat +wreathed his brows; for in vase-paintings the Theban dragon appears coiled +beside the holy tree,(206) and Euripides describes the Delphic dragon as +covered by a leafy laurel.(207) At all oracular seats of Apollo his +priestess drank of the sacred spring and chewed the sacred laurel before +she prophesied.(208) Thus it would seem that the dragon, which at Delphi +is expressly said to have been the guardian of the oracle,(209) had in its +custody both the instruments of divination, the holy tree and the holy +water. We are reminded of the dragon or serpent, slain by Hercules, which +guarded the golden apples of the Hesperides in the happy garden.(210) But +at Delphi the oldest sacred tree appears, as Mr. A. B. Cook has pointed +out,(211) to have been not a laurel but an oak. For we are told that +originally the victors in the Pythian games at Delphi wore crowns of oak +leaves, since the laurel had not yet been created.(212) Now, like the +Festival of Crowning, the Pythian games were instituted to commemorate the +slaughter of the dragon;(213) like it they were originally held every +eighth year;(214) the two festivals were celebrated nearly at the same +time of the year;(215) and the representative of Apollo in the one and the +victors in the other were adorned with crowns made from the same sacred +laurel.(216) In short, the two festivals appear to have been in origin +substantially identical; the distinction between them may have arisen when +the Delphians decided to hold the Pythian games every fourth, instead of +every eighth year.(217) We may fairly suppose, therefore, that the +leaf-crowned victors in the Pythian games, like the laurel-wreathed boy in +the Festival of Crowning, formerly acted the part of the god himself. But +if in the beginning these actors in the sacred drama wore wreaths of oak +instead of laurel, it seems to follow that the deity whom they personated +was the oak-god Zeus rather than the laurel-god Apollo; from which again +we may infer that Delphi was a sanctuary of Zeus and the oak before it +became the shrine of Apollo and the laurel.(218) + +(M61) But why should the crown of oak have ceased to be the badge of +victory? and why should a wreath of laurel have taken its place? The +abandonment of the oak crown may have been a consequence of the +disappearance of the oak itself from the neighbourhood of Delphi; in +Greece, as in Italy, the deciduous trees have for centuries been +retreating up the mountain sides before the advance of the +evergreens.(219) When the last venerable oak, the rustling of whose leaves +in the breeze had long been listened to as oracular, finally succumbed +through age, or was laid low by a storm, the priests may have cast about +for a tree of another sort to take its place. Yet they sought it neither +in the lower woods of the valley nor in the dark forests which clothe the +upper slopes of Parnassus above the frowning cliffs of Delphi. Legend ran +that after the slaughter of the dragon, Apollo had purged himself from the +stain of blood in the romantic Vale of Tempe, where the Peneus flows +smoothly in a narrow defile between the lofty wooded steeps of Olympus and +Ossa. Here the god crowned himself with a laurel wreath, and thither +accordingly at the Festival of Crowning his human representative went to +pluck the laurel for his brows.(220) The custom, though doubtless ancient, +can hardly have been original. We must suppose that in the beginning the +dragon-guarded tree, whether an oak or a laurel, grew at Delphi itself. +But why should the laurel be chosen as a substitute for the oak? Mr. A. B. +Cook has suggested a plausible answer. The laurel leaf resembles so +closely the leaf of the ilex or holm-oak in both shape and colour that an +untrained observer may easily confuse the two. The upper surface of both +is a dark glossy green, the lower surface shews a lighter tint. Nothing, +therefore, could be more natural than to make the new wreath out of leaves +which looked so like the old oak leaves that the substitution might almost +pass undetected.(221) + +Whether at Thebes, as at Delphi, the laurel had ousted the oak from the +place of honour at the festival of the Slaying of the Dragon, we cannot +say. The oak has long disappeared from the low hills and flat ground in +the neighbourhood of Thebes, but as late as the second century of our era +there was a forest of ancient oaks not many miles off at the foot of Mount +Cithaeron.(222) + +(M62) It has been conjectured that in ancient days the persons who wore +the wreath of laurel or oak at the octennial festivals of Delphi and +Thebes were no other than the priestly kings, who personated the god, slew +their predecessors in the guise of dragons, and reigned for a time in +their stead.(223) The theory certainly cannot be demonstrated, but there +is a good deal of analogy in its favour. An eight years' tenure of the +kingship at Delphi and Thebes would accord with the similar tenure of the +office at Sparta and Cnossus. And if the kings of Cnossus disguised +themselves as bulls, there seems no reason why the kings of Delphi and +Thebes should not have personated dragons or serpents. In all these cases +the animal whose guise the king assumed would be sacred to the royal +family. At first the relation of the beast to the man would be direct and +simple; the creature would be revered for some such reason as that for +which a savage respects a certain species of animals, for example, because +he believes that his ancestors were beasts of the same sort, or that the +souls of his dead are lodged in them. In later times the sanctity of the +species would be explained by saying that a god had at some time, and for +some reason or other, assumed the form of the animal. It is probably not +without significance that in Greek mythology the gods in general, and Zeus +in particular, are commonly said to have submitted to this change of shape +for the purpose of prosecuting a love adventure. Such stories may well +reflect a custom of a Sacred Marriage at which the actors played the parts +of the worshipful animals. With the growth of culture these local +worships, the relics of a barbarous age, would be explained away by tales +of the loves of the gods, and, gradually falling out of practice, would +survive only as myths. + +(M63) It is said that at the festival of the Wolf-god Zeus, held every +nine years on the Wolf-mountain in Arcadia, a man tasted of the bowel of a +human victim mixed with the bowels of animals, and having tasted it he was +turned into a wolf, and remained a wolf for nine years, when he changed +back again into a man if in the interval he had abstained from eating +human flesh.(224) The tradition points to the existence of a society of +cannibal wolf-worshippers, one or more of whom personated, and were +supposed to embody, the sacred animal for periods of nine years together. +Their theory and practice would seem to have agreed with those of the +Human Leopard Societies of western Africa, whose members disguise +themselves in the skins of leopards with sharp claws of steel. In that +guise they attack and kill men in order to eat their flesh or to extract +powerful charms from their bodies.(225) Their mode of gaining recruits is +like that of the Greek Wolf Society. When a visitor came to a village +inhabited by a Leopard Society, "he was invited to partake of food, in +which was mixed a small quantity of human flesh. The guest all +unsuspectingly partook of the repast, and was afterwards told that human +flesh formed one of the ingredients of the meal, and that it was then +necessary that he should join the society, which was invariably +done."(226) As the ancient Greeks thought that a man might be turned into +a wolf, so these negroes believe that he can be changed into a leopard; +and, like the Greeks, some of them fancy that if the transformed man +abstains during his transformation from preying on his fellows he can +regain his human shape, but that if he once laps human blood he must +remain a leopard for ever.(227) + +(M64) The hypothesis that the ancient kings of Thebes and Delphi had for +their sacred animal the serpent or dragon, and claimed kinship with the +creature, derives some countenance from the tradition that at the end of +their lives Cadmus and his wife Harmonia quitted Thebes and went to reign +over a tribe of Encheleans or Eel-men in Illyria, where they were both +finally transformed into dragons or serpents.(228) To the primitive mind +an eel is a water-serpent;(229) it can hardly, therefore, be an accident +that the serpent-killer afterwards reigned over a tribe of eel-men and +himself became a serpent at last. Moreover, according to one account, his +wife Harmonia was a daughter of the very dragon which he slew.(230) The +tradition would fit in well with the hypothesis that the dragon or serpent +was the sacred animal of the old royal house of Thebes, and that the +kingdom fell to him who slew his predecessor and married his daughter. We +have seen reason to think that such a mode of succession to the throne was +common in antiquity.(231) The story of the final transformation of Cadmus +and Harmonia into snakes may be a relic of a belief that the souls of the +dead kings and queens of Thebes transmigrated into the bodies of serpents, +just as Caffre kings turn at death into boa-constrictors or deadly black +snakes.(232) Indeed the notion that the souls of the dead lodge in +serpents is widely spread in Africa and Madagascar.(233) Other African +tribes believe that their dead kings and chiefs turn into lions, leopards, +hyaenas, pythons, hippopotamuses, or other creatures, and the animals are +respected and spared accordingly.(234) In like manner the Semang and other +wild tribes of the Malay Peninsula imagine that the souls of their chiefs, +priests, and magicians transmigrate at death into the bodies of certain +wild beasts, such as elephants, tigers, and rhinoceroses, and that in +their bestial form the dead men extend a benign protection to their living +human kinsfolk.(235) Even during their lifetime kings in rude society +sometimes claim kinship with the most formidable beasts of the country. +Thus the royal family of Dahomey specially worships the leopard; some of +the king's wives are distinguished by the title of Leopard Wives, and on +state occasions they wear striped cloths to resemble the animal.(236) One +king of Dahomey, on whom the French made war, bore the name of Shark; +hence in art he was represented sometimes with a shark's body and a human +head, sometimes with a human body and the head of a shark.(237) The +Trocadero Museum at Paris contains the wooden images of three kings of +Dahomey who reigned during the nineteenth century, and who are all +represented partly in human and partly in animal form. One of them, Guezo, +bore the surname of the Cock, and his image represents him as a man +covered with feathers. His son Guelele, who succeeded him on the throne, +was surnamed the Lion, and his effigy is that of a lion rampant with tail +raised and hair on his body, but with human feet and hands. Guelele was +succeeded on the throne by his son Behanzin, who was surnamed the Shark, +and his effigy portrays him standing upright with the head and body of a +fish, the fins and scales being carefully represented, while his arms and +legs are those of a man.(238) Again, a king of Benin was called Panther, +and a bronze statue of him, now in the Anthropological Museum at Berlin, +represents him with a panther's whiskers.(239) Such portraits furnish an +exact parallel to what I conceive to be the true story of the Minotaur. On +the Gold Coast of Africa a powerful ruler is commonly addressed as "O +Elephant!" or "O Lion!" and one of the titles of the king of Ashantee, +mentioned at great ceremonies, is _borri_, the name of a venomous +snake.(240) It has been argued that King David belonged to a serpent +family, and that the brazen serpent, which down to the time of Hezekiah +was worshipped with fumes of burning incense,(241) represented the old +sacred animal of his house.(242) In Europe the bull, the serpent, and the +wolf would naturally be on the list of royal beasts. + +(M65) If the king's soul was believed to pass at death into the sacred +animal, a custom might arise of keeping live creatures of the species in +captivity and revering them as the souls of dead rulers. This would +explain the Athenian practice of keeping a sacred serpent on the Acropolis +and feeding it with honey cakes; for the serpent was identified with +Erichthonius or Erechtheus, one of the ancient kings of Athens, of whose +palace some vestiges have been discovered in recent times. The creature +was supposed to guard the citadel. During the Persian invasion a report +that the serpent had left its honey-cake untasted was one of the strongest +reasons which induced the people to abandon Athens to the enemy; they +thought that the holy reptile had forsaken the city.(243) Again, Cecrops, +the first king of Athens, is said to have been half-serpent and +half-man;(244) in art he is represented as a man from the waist upwards, +while the lower part of his body consists of the coils of a serpent.(245) +It has been suggested that like Erechtheus he was identical with the +serpent on the Acropolis.(246) Once more, we are told that Cychreus gained +the kingdom of Salamis by slaying a snake which ravaged the island,(247) +but that after his death he, like Cadmus, appeared in the form of the +reptile.(248) Some said that he was a man who received the name of Snake +on account of his cruelty.(249) Such tales may preserve reminiscences of +kings who assumed the style of serpents in their lifetime and were +believed to transmigrate into serpents after death. Like the dragons of +Thebes and Delphi, the Athenian serpent appears to have been conceived as +a creature of the waters; for the serpent-man Erechtheus was identified +with the water-god Poseidon,(250) and in his temple, the Erechtheum, where +the serpent lived, there was a tank which went by the name of "the sea of +Erechtheus."(251) + +(M66) If the explanation of the eight years' cycle which I have adopted +holds good for Thebes and Delphi, the octennial festivals held at these +places probably had some reference to the sun and moon, and may have +comprised a sacred marriage of these luminaries. The solar character of +Apollo, whether original or adventitious, lends some countenance to this +view, but at both Delphi and Thebes the god was apparently an intruder who +usurped the place of an older god or hero at the festival. At Thebes that +older hero was Cadmus. Now Cadmus was a brother of Europa, who appears to +have been a personification of the moon conceived in the form of a +cow.(252) He travelled westward seeking his lost sister till he came to +Delphi, where the oracle bade him give up the search and follow a cow +which had the white mark of the full moon on its flank; wherever the cow +fell down exhausted, there he was to take up his abode and found a city. +Following the cow and the directions of the oracle he built Thebes.(253) +Have we not here in another form the myth of the moon pursued and at last +overtaken by the sun? and the famous wedding of Cadmus and Harmonia, to +attend which all the gods came down from heaven,(254) may it not have been +at once the mythical marriage of the great luminaries and the ritual +marriage of the king and queen of Thebes masquerading, like the king and +queen of Cnossus, in the character of the lights of heaven at the +octennial festival which celebrated and symbolised the conjunction of the +sun and moon after their long separation, their harmony after eight years +of discord? A better name for the bride at such a wedding could hardly +have been chosen than Harmonia. + +(M67) This theory is supported by a remarkable feature of the festival. At +the head of the procession, immediately in front of the Laurel-bearer, +walked a youth who carried in his hands a staff of olive-wood draped with +laurels and flowers. To the top of the staff was fastened a bronze globe, +with smaller globes hung from it; to the middle of the staff were attached +a globe of medium size and three hundred and sixty-five purple ribbands, +while the lower part of the staff was swathed in a saffron pall. The +largest globe, we are told, signified the sun, the smaller the moon, and +the smallest the stars, and the purple ribbands stood for the course of +the year, being equal in number to the days comprised in it.(255) The +choir of virgins who followed the Laurel-bearer singing hymns(256) may +have represented the Muses, who are said to have sung and played at the +marriage of Cadmus and Harmonia; down to late times the very spot in the +market-place was shewn where they had discoursed their heavenly +music.(257) We may conjecture that the procession of the Laurel-bearing +was preceded by a dramatic performance of the Slaying of the Dragon, and +that it was followed by a pageant representative of the nuptials of Cadmus +and Harmonia in the presence of the gods. On this hypothesis Harmonia, the +wife of Cadmus, is only another form of his sister Europa, both of them +being personifications of the moon. Accordingly in the Samothracian +mysteries, in which the marriage of Cadmus and Harmonia appears to have +been celebrated, it was Harmonia and not Europa whose wanderings were +dramatically represented.(258) The gods who quitted Olympus to grace the +wedding by their presence were probably represented in the rites, whether +celebrated at Thebes or in Samothrace, by men and women attired as +deities. In like manner at the marriage of a Pharaoh the courtiers +masqueraded in the likeness of the animal-headed Egyptian gods.(259) + +Within historical times the great Olympic festival was always held at +intervals of four, not of eight, years. Yet it too would seem to have been +based on the octennial cycle. For it always fell on a full moon, at +intervals of fifty and of forty-nine lunar months alternately.(260) Thus +the total number of lunar months comprised in two successive Olympiads was +ninety-nine, which is precisely the number of lunar months in the +octennial cycle.(261) It is possible that, as K. O. Mueller +conjectured,(262) the Olympic games may, like the Pythian, have originally +been celebrated at intervals of eight instead of four years. If that was +so, analogy would lead us to infer that the festival was associated with a +mythical marriage of the sun and moon. A reminiscence of such a marriage +appears to survive in the legend that Endymion, the son of the first king +of Elis, had fifty daughters by the Moon, and that he set his sons to run +a race for the kingdom at Olympia.(263) For, as scholars have already +perceived, Endymion is the sunken sun overtaken by the moon below the +horizon, and his fifty daughters by her are the fifty lunar months of an +Olympiad or, more strictly speaking, of every alternate Olympiad.(264) If +the Olympic festival always fell, as many authorities have maintained, at +the first full moon after the summer solstice,(265) the time would be +eminently appropriate for a marriage of the luminaries, since both of them +might then be conceived to be at the prime of their vigour. + +(M68) It has been ingeniously argued by Mr. A. B. Cook(266) that the +Olympic victors in the chariot-race were the lineal successors of the old +rulers, the living embodiments of Zeus, whose claims to the kingdom were +decided by a race, as in the legend of Endymion and his sons, and who +reigned for a period of four, perhaps originally of eight years, after +which they had again, like Oenomaus, to stake their right to the throne on +the issue of a chariot-race. Certainly the four-horse car in which they +raced assimilated them to the sun-god, who was commonly supposed to drive +through the sky in a similar fashion;(267) while the crown of sacred olive +which decked their brows(268) likened them to the great god Zeus himself, +whose glorious image at Olympia wore a similar wreath.(269) But if the +olive-crowned victor in the men's race at Olympia represented Zeus, it +becomes probable that the olive-crowned victor in the girls' race, which +was held every fourth year at Olympia in honour of Hera,(270) represented +in like manner the god's wife; and that in former days the two together +acted the part of the god and goddess in that sacred marriage of Zeus and +Hera which is known to have been celebrated in many parts of Greece.(271) +This conclusion is confirmed by the legend that the girls' race was +instituted by Hippodamia in gratitude for her marriage with Pelops;(272) +for if Pelops as victor in the chariot-race represented Zeus, his bride +would naturally play the part of Hera. But under the names of Zeus and +Hera the pair of Olympic victors would seem to have really personated the +Sun and Moon, who were the true heavenly bridegroom and bride of the +ancient octennial festival.(273) In the decline of ancient civilisation +the old myth of the marriage of the great luminaries was revived by the +crazy fanatic and libertine, the emperor Heliogabalus, who fetched the +image of Astarte, regarded as the moon-goddess, from Carthage to Rome and +wedded it to the image of the Syrian sun-god, commanding all men at Rome +and throughout Italy to celebrate with joy and festivity the solemn +nuptials of the God of the Sun with the Goddess of the Moon.(274) + + + + +§ 5. Funeral Games. + + +(M69) But a different and at first sight inconsistent explanation of the +Olympic festival deserves to be considered. Some of the ancients held that +all the great games of Greece--the Olympic, the Nemean, the Isthmian, and +the Pythian--were funeral games celebrated in honour of the dead.(275) Thus +the Olympic games were supposed to have been founded in honour of +Pelops,(276) the great legendary hero, who had a sacred precinct at +Olympia, where he was honoured above all the other heroes and received +annually the sacrifice of a black ram.(277) Once a year, too, all the lads +of Peloponnese are said to have lashed themselves on his grave at Olympia, +till the blood streamed down their backs as a libation to the departed +hero.(278) Similarly at Roman funerals the women scratched their faces +till they bled for the purpose, as Varro tells us, of pleasing the ghosts +with the sight of the flowing blood.(279) So, too, among the aborigines of +Australia mourners sometimes cut and hack themselves and allow the +streaming blood to drip on the dead body of their kinsman or into the +grave.(280) Among the eastern islanders of Torres Straits in like manner +youths who had lately been initiated and girls who had attained to puberty +used to have the lobes of their ears cut as a mourning ceremony, and the +flowing blood was allowed to drip on the feet of the corpse as a mark of +pity or sorrow; moreover, young adults of both sexes had patterns cut in +their flesh with a sharp shell so that the blood fell on the dead +body.(281) The similarity of these savage rites to the Greek custom +observed at the grave of Pelops suggests that the tomb was not a mere +cenotaph, but that it contained the actual remains of the dead hero, +though these have not been discovered by the German excavators of Olympia. +In like manner the Nemean games are said to have been celebrated in honour +of the dead Opheltes, whose grave was shewn at Nemea.(282) According to +tradition, the Isthmian games were instituted in honour of the dead +Melicertes, whose body had been washed ashore at the Isthmus of Corinth. +It is said that when this happened a famine fell upon the Corinthians, and +an oracle declared that the evil would not cease until the people paid due +obsequies to the remains of the drowned Melicertes and honoured him with +funeral games. The Corinthians complied with the injunction for a short +time; but as soon as they omitted to celebrate the games, the famine broke +out afresh, and the oracle informed them that the honours paid to +Melicertes must be eternal.(283) Lastly, the Pythian games are said to +have been celebrated in honour of the dead dragon or serpent Python.(284) + +(M70) These Greek traditions as to the funeral origin of the great games +are strongly confirmed by Greek practice in historical times. Thus in the +Homeric age funeral games, including chariot-races, foot-races, wrestling, +boxing, spear-throwing, quoit-throwing, and archery, were celebrated in +honour of dead kings and heroes at their barrows.(285) In the fifth +century before Christ, when Miltiades, the victor of Marathon, died in the +Thracian Chersonese, the people offered sacrifices to him as their founder +and instituted equestrian and athletic games in his honour, in which no +citizen of Lampsacus was allowed to contend.(286) Near the theatre at +Sparta there were two graves; one contained the bones of the gallant +Leonidas which had been brought back from the pass of Thermopylae to rest +in Spartan earth; the other held the dust of King Pausanias, who commanded +the Greek armies on the great day when they routed the Persian host at +Plataea, but who lived to tarnish his laurels and to die a traitor's +death. Every year speeches were spoken over these graves and games were +held in which none but Spartans might compete.(287) Perhaps in the case of +Pausanias the games were intended rather to avert his anger than to do him +honour; for we are told that wizards were fetched even from Italy to lay +the traitor's unquiet ghost.(288) Again, when the Spartan general +Brasidas, defending Amphipolis in Thrace against the Athenians, fell +mortally wounded before the city and just lived, like Wolfe on the Heights +of Abraham, to learn that his men were victorious, all the allies in arms +followed the dead soldier to the grave; and the grateful citizens fenced +his tomb about, sacrificed to him as a hero, and decreed that his memory +should be honoured henceforth with games and annual sacrifices.(289) So, +too, when Timoleon, the saviour of Syracuse, died in the city which he had +delivered from tyrants within and defended against enemies without, vast +multitudes of men and women, crowned with garlands and clad in clean +raiment, attended all that was mortal of their benefactor to the funeral +pyre, the voices of praise and benediction mingling with the sound of +lamentations and sobs; and when at last the bier was laid on the pyre a +herald chosen for his sonorous voice proclaimed that the people of +Syracuse were burying Timoleon, and that they would honour him for all +time to come with musical, equestrian, and athletic games, because he had +put down the tyrants, conquered the foreign foe, rebuilt the cities that +had been laid waste, and restored their free constitutions to the +Sicilians.(290) In dedicating the great Mausoleum at Halicarnassus to the +soul of her dead husband Mausolus, his widow Artemisia instituted a +contest of eloquence in his memory, prizes of money and other valuables +being offered to such as should pronounce the most splendid panegyrics on +the departed. Isocrates himself is said to have entered for the prize but +to have been vanquished by his pupil Theopompus.(291) Alexander the Great +prepared to pay honour to his dead friend Hephaestion by celebrating +athletic and musical contests on a greater scale than had ever been +witnessed before, and for this purpose he actually assembled three +thousand competitors, who shortly afterwards contended at the funeral +games of the great conqueror himself.(292) + +(M71) Nor were the Greeks in the habit of instituting games in honour only +of a few distinguished individuals; they sometimes established them to +perpetuate the memory or to appease the ghosts of large numbers of men who +had perished on the field of battle or been massacred in cold blood. When +the Carthaginians and Tyrrhenians together had beaten the Phocaeans in a +sea-fight, they landed their prisoners near Agylla in Etruria and stoned +them all to death. After that, whenever the people of Agylla or their oxen +or their sheep passed the scene of the massacre, they were attacked by a +strange malady, which distorted their bodies and deprived them of the use +of their limbs. So they consulted the Delphic oracle, and the priestess +told them that they must offer great sacrifices to the dead Phocaeans and +institute equestrian and athletic games in their honour,(293) no doubt to +appease the angry ghosts of the murdered men, who were supposed to be +doing the mischief. At Plataea down to the second century of our era might +be seen the graves of the men who fell in the great battle with the +Persians. Sacrifices were offered to them every year with great solemnity. +The chief magistrate of Plataea, clad in a purple robe, washed with his +own hands the tombstones and anointed them with scented oil. He +slaughtered a black bull over a burning pyre and called upon the dead +warriors to come and partake of the banquet and the blood. Then filling a +bowl of wine and pouring a libation he said, "I drink to the men who died +for the freedom of Greece." Moreover, games were celebrated every fourth +year in honour of these heroic dead, the principal prizes being offered +for a race in armour.(294) At Athens funeral games were held in the +Academy to commemorate the men slain in war who were buried in the +neighbouring Ceramicus, and sacrifices were offered to them at a pit: the +games were superintended and the sacrifices offered by the Polemarch or +minister of war.(295) + +(M72) Similar honours have been paid to the spirits of the departed by +many other peoples both ancient and modern. Thus in antiquity the +Thracians burned or buried their dead, and having raised mounds over their +remains they held games of all kinds on the spot, assigning the principal +prizes to victory in single combat.(296) At Rome funeral games were +celebrated and gladiators fought in honour of distinguished men who had +just died. The games were sometimes held in the forum. Thus in the year +216 B.C., when Marcus Aemilius Lepidus died, who had been twice consul, +his three sons celebrated funeral games in the forum for three days, and +two-and-twenty pairs of gladiators fought on the occasion.(297) Again, in +the year 200 B.C. funeral games were held for four days in the forum, and +five-and-twenty pairs of gladiators fought in honour of the deceased M. +Valerius Laevinus, the expense of the ceremonies being defrayed by the two +sons of the dead man.(298) Once more, when the Pontifex Maximus, Publicius +Licinius Crassus, died at the beginning of the year 183 B.C., funeral +games were celebrated in his honour for three days, a hundred and twenty +gladiators fought, and the ceremonies concluded with a banquet, for which +the tables were spread in the forum.(299) These games and combats were +doubtless intended to please and soothe the ghost of the recently +departed, just as we saw that Roman women lacerated their faces for a +similar purpose. Similarly, when the Southern Nicobarese dig up the bones +of their dead, clean them, and bury them again, they hold a feast at which +sham-fights with quarter-staves take place "to gratify the departed +spirit."(300) In Futuna, an island of the South Pacific, when a death has +taken place friends express their grief by cutting their faces, breast, +and arms with shells, and at the funeral festival which follows pairs of +boxers commonly engage in combats by way of honouring the deceased.(301) +In Laos, a province of Siam, boxers are similarly engaged to bruise each +other at the festival which takes place when the remains of a chief or +other important person are cremated. The festival lasts three days, but it +is while the pyre is actually blazing that the combatants are expected to +batter each other's heads with the utmost vigour.(302) Among the Kirghiz +the anniversary of the death of a rich man is celebrated with a great +feast and with horse-races, shooting-matches, and wrestling-matches. It is +said that thousands of sheep and hundreds of horses, besides slaves, coats +of mail, and a great many other objects, are sometimes distributed as +prizes among the winners.(303) The Bashkirs, a Tartar people of mixed +extraction, bury their dead, and always end the obsequies with +horse-races.(304) Among some of the North American Indians contests in +running, shooting, and so forth formed part of the funeral +celebration.(305) + +(M73) The Bedouins of the Sinaitic peninsula observe a great annual +festival at the grave of the prophet Salih, and camel-races are included +in the ceremonies. At the end of the races a procession takes place round +the prophet's grave, after which the sacrificial victims are led to the +door of the mortuary chapel, their ears are cut off, and the doorposts are +smeared with their streaming blood.(306) The custom of holding funeral +games in honour of the dead appears to be common among the people of the +Caucasus. Thus in Circassia the anniversary of the death of a +distinguished warrior or chief is celebrated for years with horse-races, +foot-races, and various kinds of martial and athletic exercises, for which +prizes are awarded to the successful competitors.(307) Among the Chewsurs, +another people of the Caucasus, horse-races are held at the funeral of a +rich man, and prizes of cattle and sheep are given to the winners; poorer +folk content themselves with a competition in shooting and with more +modest prizes. Similar celebrations take place on the anniversary of the +death.(308) In like manner shooting-matches form a feature of an annual +Festival of All Souls, when the spirits of departed Chewsurs are believed +to revisit their old village. Adults and children alike take part in the +matches, the adults shooting with guns and the children with bows and +arrows. The prizes consist of loaves, stockings, gloves, and so +forth.(309) Among the Abchases, another people of the Caucasus, two years +after a death a memorial feast is held in honour of the deceased, at which +animals are killed and measures taken to appease the soul of the departed. +For they believe that if the ghost is discontented he can injure them and +their property. The horse of the deceased figures prominently at the +festival. After the guests have feasted at a long table spread in the open +air, the young men perform evolutions on horseback which are said to +recall the tournaments of the Middle Ages, and children of eight or nine +years of age ride races on horseback.(310) + +(M74) Thus it appears that many different peoples have been in the habit +of holding games, including horse-races, in honour of the dead; and as the +ancient Greeks unquestionably did so within historical times for men whose +existence is as little open to question as that of Wellington and +Napoleon, we cannot dismiss as improbable the tradition that the Olympic +and perhaps other great Greek games were instituted to commemorate real +men who once lived, died, and were buried on the spot where the festivals +were afterwards held. When the person so commemorated had been great and +powerful in his lifetime, his ghost would be deemed great and powerful +after death, and the games celebrated in his honour might naturally +attract crowds of spectators. The need of providing food and accommodation +for the multitude which assembled on these occasions would in turn draw +numbers of hucksters and merchants to the spot, and thus what in its +origin had been a solemn religious ceremony might gradually assume more +and more the character of a fair, that is, of a concourse of people +brought together mainly for purposes of trade and amusement. This theory +might account for the origin not only of the Olympic and other Greek +games, but also for that of the great fairs or public assemblies of +ancient Ireland which have been compared, not without reason, to the Greek +games. Indeed the two most famous of these Irish festivals, in which +horse-races played a prominent part, are actually said to have been +instituted in honour of the dead. Most celebrated of all was the fair of +Tailltiu or Tailltin, held at a place in the county of Meath which is now +called Teltown on the Blackwater, midway between Navan and Kells. The +festival lasted for a fortnight before Lammas (the first of August) and a +fortnight after it. Among the manly sports and contests which formed a +leading feature of the fair horse-races held the principal place. But +trade was not neglected, and among the wares brought to market were +marriageable women, who, according to a tradition which survived into the +nineteenth century, were bought and sold as wives for one year. The very +spot where the marriages took place is still pointed out by the peasantry; +they call it "Marriage Hollow." Multitudes flocked to the fair not only +from all parts of Ireland, but even from Scotland; it is officially +recorded that in the year 1169 A.D. the horses and chariots alone, +exclusive of the people on foot, extended in a continuous line for more +than six English miles, from Tailltin to Mullach-Aiti, now the Hill of +Lloyd near Kells. The Irish historians relate that the fair of Tailltin +was instituted by Lug in honour of his foster-mother Tailltiu, whom he +buried under a great sepulchral mound on the spot, ordering that a +commemorative festival with games and sports should be celebrated there +annually for ever.(311) The other great fair of ancient Ireland was held +only once in three years at Carman, now called Wexford, in Leinster. It +began on Lammas Day (the first of August) and lasted six days. A +horse-race took place on each day of the festival. In different parts of +the green there were separate markets for victuals, for cattle and horses, +and for gold and precious stuffs of the merchants. Harpers harped and +pipers piped for the entertainment of the crowds, and in other parts of +the fair bards recited in the ears of rapt listeners old romantic tales of +forays and cattle-raids, of battles and murders, of love and courtship and +marriage. Prizes were awarded to the best performers in every art. In the +Book of Ballymote the fair of Carman or Garman is said to have been +founded in accordance with the dying wish of a chief named Garman, who was +buried on the spot, after begging that a fair of mourning (_aenach +n-guba_) should be instituted for him and should bear his name for ever. +"It was considered an institution of great importance, and among the +blessings promised to the men of Leinster from holding it and duly +celebrating the established games, were plenty of corn, fruit and milk, +abundance of fish in their lakes and rivers, domestic prosperity, and +immunity from the yoke of any other province. On the other hand, the evils +to follow from the neglect of this institution were to be failure and +early greyness on them and their kings."(312) + +(M75) Nor were these two great fairs the only ancient Irish festivals of +the sort which are reported to have been founded in honour of the dead. +The annual fair at Emain is said to have been established to lament the +death of Queen Macha of the Golden Hair, who had her palace on the +spot.(313) In short "most of the great meetings, by whatever name known, +had their origin in funeral games. Tara, Tailltenn, Tlachtga, Ushnagh, +Cruachan, Emain Macha and other less prominent meeting-places, are well +known as ancient pagan cemeteries, in all of which many illustrious +semi-historical personages were interred: and many sepulchral monuments +remain in them to this day."(314) "There was a notion that Carman was a +cemetery, that there kings and queens had been buried, and that the games +and horse-races, which formed the principal attraction of the fair, had +been instituted in honour of the dead folk on whose graves the feet of the +assembled multitude were treading. The same view is taken of the fairs of +Tailltiu and Cruachan: Tailltiu and Cruachan were cemeteries before they +served periodically as places of assembly for business and pleasure."(315) +The tombs of the first kings of Ulster were at Tailltin.(316) + +(M76) If we ask whether the tradition as to the funeral origin of these +great Irish fairs is true or false, it is important to observe the date at +which they were commonly celebrated. The date was the first of August, or +Lugnasad, that is, the _nasad_ or games of Lug, as the day is still called +in every part of Ireland.(317) This was the date of the great fair of +Cruachan(318) as well as of Tailltin and Carman. Now the first of August +is our Lammas Day, a name derived from the Anglo-Saxon _hlafmaesse_, that +is, "Loaf-mass" or "Bread-mass," and the name marks the day as a mass or +feast of thanksgiving for the first-fruits of the corn-harvest, which in +England and Ireland usually ripen about that time. The feast "seems to +have been observed with bread of new wheat, and therefore in some parts of +England, and even in some near Oxford, the tenants are bound to bring in +wheat of that year to their lord, on or before the first of August."(319) +But if the festival of the first of August was in its origin an offering +of the first-fruits of the corn-harvest, we can easily understand the +great importance which the ancient Irish attached to it, and why they +should have thought that its observance ensured a plentiful crop of corn +as well as abundance of fruit and milk and fish, whereas the neglect of +the festival would entail the failure of these things and cause the hair +of their kings to turn prematurely grey.(320) For it is a widespread +custom among primitive agricultural peoples to offer the first-fruits of +the harvest to divine beings, whether gods or spirits, before any person +may eat of the new crops,(321) and wherever such customs are observed we +may assume that an omission to offer the first-fruits must be supposed to +endanger the crops and the general prosperity of the community, by +exciting the wrath of the gods or spirits, who conceive themselves to be +robbed of their dues. Now among the divine beings who are thus propitiated +the souls of dead ancestors take in many tribes a prominent or even +exclusive place, and that these ancestors are not creations of the +mythical fancy but were once men of flesh and blood is sometimes +demonstrated by the substantial evidence of their skulls, to which the +offerings are made and in which the spirits are supposed to take up their +abode for the purpose of partaking of the food presented to them. +Sometimes the ceremony is designated by the expressive name of "feeding +the dead."(322) + +(M77) All this tends to support the traditional explanation of the great +Irish fairs held at the beginning of August, when the first corn is ripe; +for if these festivals were indeed celebrated, as they are said to have +been, at cemeteries where kings and other famous men were buried, and if +the horse-races and other games, which formed the most prominent feature +of the celebrations, were indeed instituted, as they are said to have +been, in honour of dead men and women, we can perfectly understand why the +observance of the festivals and the games was supposed to ensure a +plentiful harvest and abundance of fruit and fish, whereas the neglect to +celebrate them was believed to entail the failure of these things. So long +as the spirits of the dead men and women, who were buried on the spot, +received the homage of their descendants in the shape of funeral games and +perhaps of first-fruits, so long would they bless their people with plenty +by causing the earth to bring forth its fruits, the cows to yield milk, +and the waters to swarm with fish; whereas if they deemed themselves +slighted and neglected, they would avenge their wrongs by cutting off the +food supply and afflicting the people with dearth and other calamities. +Among these threatened calamities the premature greyness of the kings is +specially mentioned, and was probably deemed not the least serious; for we +have seen that the welfare of the whole people is often deemed to be bound +up with the physical vigour of the king, and that the appearance of grey +hairs on his head and wrinkles on his face is sometimes viewed with +apprehension and proves the signal for putting him to death.(323) +Similarly the Abchases of the Caucasus imagine that if they do not honour +a dead man by horse-races and other festivities, his ghost will be angry +with them and visit his displeasure on their persons and their +property.(324) In this connexion it is significant that the celebration of +the Isthmian games at Corinth in honour of the dead Melicertes is said to +have been instituted for the purpose of staying a famine, and that the +intermission of the games was immediately followed by a fresh visitation +of the calamity.(325) Analogy suggests that the famine may have been +ascribed to the anger of the ghost of Melicertes at the neglect of his +funeral honours. + +(M78) Thus on the whole the theory of the funeral origin of the great +Greek games is supported not only by Greek tradition and Greek custom but +by the evidence of parallel customs observed in many lands. Yet the theory +seems hardly adequate to explain all the features in the legends of the +foundation and early history of the Olympic games. For if these contests +were instituted merely to please and propitiate the soul of a prince named +Pelops who was buried on the spot, what are we to make of the tradition +that the foot-race was founded in order to determine the successor to the +kingdom?(326) or of the similar, though not identical, tradition that the +kingdom and the hand of the king's daughter were awarded as the prize to +him who could vanquish the king in a chariot race, while death was the +penalty inflicted on the beaten charioteer?(327) Such legends can hardly +have been pure fictions; they probably reflect some real custom observed +at Olympia. We may perhaps combine them with the tradition of the funeral +origin of the games by supposing that victory in the race entitled the +winner to reign as a divine king, the embodiment of a god, for a term of +years, whether four or eight years according to the interval between +successive celebrations of the festival; that when the term had expired +the human god must again submit his title to the crown to the hazard of a +race for the purpose of proving that his bodily vigour was unimpaired; +that if he failed to do so he lost both his kingdom and his life; and +lastly that the spirits of these divine kings, like those of the divine +kings of the Shilluk, were worshipped with sacrifices at their graves and +were thought to delight in the spectacle of the games which reminded them +of the laurels they had themselves won long ago, amid the plaudits of a +vast multitude, in the sunshine and dust of the race-course, before they +joined the shadowy company of ghosts in the darkness and silence of the +tomb. The theory would explain the existence of the sacred precinct of +Pelops at Olympia, where the black rams, the characteristic offerings to +the dead,(328) were sacrificed to the hero, and where the young men lashed +themselves till the blood dripped from their backs on the ground--a sight +well-pleasing to the grim bloodthirsty ghost lurking unseen below. +Perhaps, too, the theory may explain the high mound, at some distance from +Olympia, which passed for the grave of the suitors of Hippodamia, to whose +shades Pelops is said to have sacrificed as to heroes every year.(329) It +is possible that the men buried in this great barrow were not, as +tradition had it, the suitors who contended in the chariot-race for the +hand of Hippodamia and being defeated were slain by her relentless father; +they may have been men who, like Pelops himself, had won the kingdom and a +bride in the chariot-race, and, after enjoying the regal dignity and +posing as incarnate deities for a term of years, had been finally defeated +in the race and put to death. + +(M79) Whatever may be thought of these speculations, the great Olympic +festival cannot have been, like our Lammas, a harvest festival: the +quadrennial period of the celebration and the season of the year at which +it fell, about halfway between the corn-reaping of early summer and the +vintage of mid-autumn, alike exclude the supposition and alike point to an +astronomical, not an agricultural, basis of the solemnity. Accordingly we +seem driven to conclude that if the winners, male and female, in the +Olympic games indeed represented divinities, these divinities must have +been personifications of astronomical, not agricultural, powers; in short +that the victors posed as embodiments of the Sun and Moon, then at the +prime of their radiant power and glory, whose meeting in the heavenly +bridechamber of the sky after years of separation was mimicked and +magically promoted by the nuptials of their human representatives on +earth. + + + + +§ 6. The Slaughter of the Dragon. + + +(M80) In the foregoing discussion it has been suggested that Delphi, +Thebes, Salamis, and Athens were once ruled by kings who had, in modern +language, a serpent or dragon for their crest, and were believed to +migrate at death into the bodies of the beasts. But these legends of the +dragon admit of another and, at first sight at least, discrepant +explanation. It is difficult to separate them from those similar tales of +the slaughter of a great dragon which are current in many lands, and have +commonly been interpreted as nature-myths, in other words, as +personifications of physical phenomena. Of such tales the oldest known +versions are the ancient Babylonian and the ancient Indian. The Babylonian +myth relates how in the beginning the mighty god Marduk fought and killed +the great dragon Tiamat, an embodiment of the primaeval watery chaos, and +how after his victory he created the present heaven and earth by splitting +the huge carcase of the monster into halves and setting one of them up to +form the sky, while the other half apparently he used to fashion the +earth. Thus the story is a myth of creation. In language which its authors +doubtless understood literally, but which more advanced thinkers +afterwards interpreted figuratively, it describes how confusion was +reduced to order, how a cosmos emerged from chaos.(330) The account of +creation given in the first chapter of Genesis, which has been so much +praised for its simple grandeur and sublimity, is merely a rationalised +version of the old myth of the fight with the dragon,(331) a myth which +for crudity of thought deserves to rank with the quaint fancies of the +lowest savages. + +(M81) Again, the Indian myth embodied in the hymns of the Rigveda tells +how the strong and valiant god Indra conquered a great dragon or serpent +named Vrtra, which had obstructed the waters so that they could not flow. +He slew the monster with his bolt, and then the pent-up springs gushed in +rivers to the sea. And what he did once, he continues to do. Again and +again he renews the conflict; again and again he slays the dragon and +releases the imprisoned waters. Prayers are addressed to him that he would +be pleased to do so in the future. Even priests on earth sometimes +associate themselves with Indra in his battles with the dragon. The +worshipper is said to have placed the bolt in the god's hands, and the +sacrifice is spoken of as having helped the weapon to slay the +monster.(332) Thus the feat attributed to Indra would seem to be a +mythical account not so much of creation as of some regularly recurring +phenomenon. It has been plausibly interpreted as a description of the +bursting of the first storms of rain and thunder after the torrid heat of +an Indian summer.(333) At such times all nature, exhausted by the drought, +longs for coolness and moisture. Day after day men and cattle may be +tormented by the sight of clouds that gather and then pass away without +disburdening themselves of their contents. At last the long-drawn struggle +between the rival forces comes to a crisis. The sky darkens, thunder +peals, lightning flashes, and the welcome rain descends in sheets, +drenching the parched earth and flooding the rivers. Such a battle of the +elements might well present itself to the primitive mind in the guise of a +conflict between a maleficent dragon of drought and a beneficent god of +thunder and rain. The cloud-dragon has swallowed the waters and keeps them +shut up in the black coils of his sinuous body; the god cleaves the +monster's belly with his thunder-bolt, and the imprisoned waters escape, +in the form of dripping rain and rushing stream. + +(M82) In other countries a similar myth might, with appropriate variations +of detail, express in like manner the passage of one season into another. +For example, in more rigorous climates the dragon might stand for the +dreary winter and the dragon-slayer for the genial summer. The myths of +Apollo and the Python, of St. George and the Dragon have thus been +interpreted as symbolising the victory of summer over winter.(334) +Similarly it has been held with much probability that the Babylonian +legend of Marduk and Tiamat reflects the annual change which transforms +the valley of the Euphrates in spring. During the winter the wide +Babylonian plain, flooded by the heavy rains, looks like a sea, for which +the Babylonian word is _tiamtu_, _tiamat_. Then comes the spring, when +with the growing power of the sun the clouds vanish, the waters subside, +and dry land and vegetation appear once more. On this hypothesis the +dragon Tiamat represents the clouds, the rain, the floods of winter, while +Marduk stands for the vernal or summer sun which dispels the powers of +darkness and moisture.(335) + +(M83) But if the combat of Marduk and Tiamat was primarily a mythical +description of the Babylonian spring, it would seem that its cosmogonical +significance as an account of creation must have been an after-thought. +The early philosophers who meditated on the origin of things may have +pictured to themselves the creation or evolution of the world on the +analogy of the great changes which outside the tropics pass over the face +of nature every year. In these changes it is not hard to discern or to +imagine a conflict between two hostile forces or principles, the principle +of construction or of life and the principle of destruction or of death, +victory inclining now to the one and now to the other, according as winter +yields to spring or summer fades into autumn. It would be natural enough +to suppose that the same mighty rivals which still wage war on each other +had done so from the beginning, and that the formation of the universe as +it now exists had resulted from the shock of their battle. On this theory +the creation of the world is repeated every spring, and its dissolution is +threatened every autumn: the one is proclaimed by summer's gay heralds, +the opening flowers; the other is whispered by winter's sad harbingers, +the yellow leaves. Here as elsewhere the old creed is echoed by the poet's +fancy:-- + + + "_Non alios prima crescentis origine mundi_ + _Inluxisse dies aliumve habuisse tenorem_ + _Crediderim: ver illud erat, ver magnus agebat_ + _Orbis, et hibernis parcebant flatibus Euri:_ + _Cum primae lucem pecudes hausere, virumque_ + _Ferrea progenies duris caput extulit arvis,_ + _Inmissaeque ferae silvis et sidera caelo._"(336) + + +(M84) Thus the ceremonies which in many lands have been performed to +hasten the departure of winter or stay the flight of summer are in a sense +attempts to create the world afresh, to "re-mould it nearer to the Heart's +desire." But if we would set ourselves at the point of view of the old +sages who devised means so feeble to accomplish a purpose so immeasurably +vast, we must divest ourselves of our modern conceptions of the immensity +of the universe and of the pettiness and insignificance of man's place in +it. We must imagine the infinitude of space shrunk to a few miles, the +infinitude of time contracted to a few generations. To the savage the +mountains that bound the visible horizon, or the sea that stretches away +to meet it, is the world's end. Beyond these narrow limits his feet have +never strayed, and even his imagination fails to conceive what lies across +the waste of waters or the far blue hills. Of the future he hardly thinks, +and of the past he knows only what has been handed down to him by word of +mouth from his savage forefathers. To suppose that a world thus +circumscribed in space and time was created by the efforts or the fiat of +a being like himself imposes no great strain on his credulity; and he may +without much difficulty imagine that he himself can annually repeat the +work of creation by his charms and incantations. And once a horde of +savages had instituted magical ceremonies for the renewal or preservation +of all things, the force of custom and tradition would tend to maintain +them in practice long after the old narrow ideas of the universe had been +superseded by more adequate conceptions, and the tribe had expanded into a +nation. + +(M85) Neither in Babylonia nor in India, indeed, so far as I am aware, is +there any direct evidence that the story of the Slaughter of the Dragon +was ever acted as a miracle-play or magical rite for the sake of bringing +about those natural events which it describes in figurative language. But +analogy leads us to conjecture that in both countries the myth may have +been recited, if not acted, as an incantation, for the purpose I have +indicated. At Babylon the recitation may have formed part of the great New +Year festival of Marduk, which under the name of Zagmuk was celebrated +with great pomp about the vernal equinox.(337) In this connexion it may +not be without significance that one version of the Babylonian legend of +creation has been found inscribed on a tablet, of which the reverse +exhibits an incantation intended to be recited for the purification of the +temple of E-zida in Borsippa.(338) Now E-zida was the temple of Nabu or +Nebo, a god closely associated, if not originally identical, with Marduk; +indeed Hammurabi, the great king of Babylon, dedicated the temple in +question to Marduk and not to Nabu.(339) It seems not improbable, +therefore, that the creation legend, in which Marduk played so important a +part, was recited as an incantation at the purification of the temple +E-zida. The ceremony perhaps took place at the Zagmuk festival, when the +image of Nabu was solemnly brought in procession from his temple in +Borsippa to the great temple of Marduk in Babylon.(340) Moreover, it was +believed that at this great festival the fates were determined by Marduk +or Nabu for the ensuing year.(341) Now, the creation myth relates how, +after he had slain the dragon, Marduk wrested the tablets of destiny from +Ningu, the paramour of Tiamat, sealed them with a seal, and laid them on +his breast.(342) We may conjecture that the dramatic representation of +this incident formed part of the annual determination of the fates at +Zagmuk. In short, it seems probable that the whole myth of creation was +annually recited and acted at this great spring festival as a charm to +dispel the storms and floods of winter, and to hasten the coming of +summer.(343) + +(M86) Wherever sacred dramas of this sort were acted as magical rites for +the regulation of the seasons, it would be natural that the chief part +should be played by the king, at first in his character of head magician, +and afterwards as representative and embodiment of the beneficent god who +vanquishes the powers of evil. If, therefore, the myth of the Slaughter of +the Dragon was ever acted with this intention, the king would +appropriately figure in the play as the victorious champion, while the +defeated monster would be represented by an actor of inferior rank. But it +is possible that under certain circumstances the distribution of parts in +the drama might be somewhat different. Where the tenure of the regal +office was limited to a fixed time, at the end of which the king was +inexorably put to death, the fatal part of the dragon might be assigned to +the monarch as the representative of the old order, the old year, or the +old cycle which was passing away, while the part of the victorious god or +hero might be supported by his successor and executioner. + +(M87) An hypothesis of this latter sort would to a certain extent +reconcile the two apparently discrepant interpretations of the myth which +have been discussed in the preceding pages, and which for the sake of +distinction may be called the totemic and the cosmological interpretations +respectively. The serpent or dragon might be the sacred animal or totem of +the royal house at the same time that it stood mythically for certain +cosmological phenomena, whether moisture or drought, cold or heat, winter +or summer. In like manner any other species of animal which served as the +totem of the royal family might simultaneously possess a cosmological +significance as the symbol of an elemental power. Thus at Cnossus, as we +have seen reason to think, the bull was at once the king's crest and an +emblem of the sun. Similarly in Egypt the hawk was the symbol both of the +sun and of the king. The oldest royal capital known to us was +Hieraconpolis or Hawk-town, and the first Egyptian king of whom we hear +had for his only royal title the name of hawk.(344) At the same time the +hawk was with the Egyptians an emblem of the sun.(345) Hawks were kept in +the sun-god's temple, and the deity himself was commonly represented in +art as a man with a hawk's head and the disc of the sun above it.(346) +However, I am fully sensible of the slipperiness and uncertainty of the +ground I am treading, and it is with great diffidence that I submit these +speculations to the judgment of my readers. The subject of ancient +mythology is involved in dense mists which it is not always possible to +penetrate and illumine even with the lamp of the Comparative Method. +Demonstration in such matters is rarely, if ever, attainable; the utmost +that a candid enquirer can claim for his conclusions is a reasonable +degree of probability. Future researches may clear up the obscurity which +still rests on the myth of the Slaughter of the Dragon, and may thereby +ascertain what measure of truth, if any, there is in the suggested +interpretations. + + + + +§ 7. Triennial Tenure of the Kingship. + + +In the province of Lagos, which forms part of Southern Nigeria, the Ijebu +tribe of the Yoruba race is divided into two branches, which are known +respectively as the Ijebu Ode and the Ijebu Remon. The Ode branch of the +tribe is ruled by a chief who bears the title of Awujale and is surrounded +by a great deal of mystery. Down to recent times his face might not be +seen even by his own subjects, and if circumstances obliged him to +communicate with them he did so through a screen which hid him from view. +The other or Remon branch of the Ijebu tribe is governed by a chief, who +ranks below the Awujale. Mr. John Parkinson was informed that in former +times this subordinate chief used to be killed with ceremony after a rule +of three years. As the country is now under British protection the custom +of putting the chief to death at the end of a three years' reign has long +been abolished, and Mr. Parkinson was unable to ascertain any particulars +on the subject.(347) + + + + +§ 8. Annual Tenure of the Kingship. + + +(M88) At Babylon, within historical times, the tenure of the kingly office +was in practice lifelong, yet in theory it would seem to have been merely +annual. For every year at the festival of Zagmuk the king had to renew his +power by seizing the hands of the image of Marduk in his great temple of +Esagil at Babylon. Even when Babylon passed under the power of Assyria, +the monarchs of that country were expected to legalise their claim to the +throne every year by coming to Babylon and performing the ancient ceremony +at the New-year festival, and some of them found the obligation so +burdensome that rather than discharge it they renounced the title of king +altogether and contented themselves with the humbler one of Governor.(348) +Further, it would appear that in remote times, though not within the +historical period, the kings of Babylon or their barbarous predecessors +forfeited not merely their crown but their life at the end of a year's +tenure of office. At least this is the conclusion to which the following +evidence seems to point. According to the historian Berosus, who as a +Babylonian priest spoke with ample knowledge, there was annually +celebrated in Babylon a festival called the Sacaea. It began on the +sixteenth day of the month Lous, and lasted for five days. During these +five days masters and servants changed places, the servants giving orders +and the masters obeying them. A prisoner condemned to death was dressed in +the king's robes, seated on the king's throne, allowed to issue whatever +commands he pleased, to eat, drink, and enjoy himself, and to lie with the +king's concubines. But at the end of the five days he was stripped of his +royal robes, scourged, and hanged or impaled. During his brief term of +office he bore the title of Zoganes.(349) This custom might perhaps have +been explained as merely a grim jest perpetrated in a season of jollity at +the expense of an unhappy criminal. But one circumstance--the leave given +to the mock king to enjoy the king's concubines--is decisive against this +interpretation. Considering the jealous seclusion of an oriental despot's +harem we may be quite certain that permission to invade it would never +have been granted by the despot, least of all to a condemned criminal, +except for the very gravest cause. This cause could hardly be other than +that the condemned man was about to die in the king's stead, and that to +make the substitution perfect it was necessary he should enjoy the full +rights of royalty during his brief reign. There is nothing surprising in +this substitution. The rule that the king must be put to death either on +the appearance of any symptom of bodily decay or at the end of a fixed +period is certainly one which, sooner or later, the kings would seek to +abolish or modify. We have seen that in Ethiopia, Sofala, and Eyeo the +rule was boldly set aside by enlightened monarchs; and that in Calicut the +old custom of killing the king at the end of twelve years was changed into +a permission granted to any one at the end of the twelve years' period to +attack the king, and, in the event of killing him, to reign in his stead; +though, as the king took care at these times to be surrounded by his +guards, the permission was little more than a form. Another way of +modifying the stern old rule is seen in the Babylonian custom just +described. When the time drew near for the king to be put to death (in +Babylon this appears to have been at the end of a single year's reign) he +abdicated for a few days, during which a temporary king reigned and +suffered in his stead. At first the temporary king may have been an +innocent person, possibly a member of the king's own family; but with the +growth of civilisation the sacrifice of an innocent person would be +revolting to the public sentiment, and accordingly a condemned criminal +would be invested with the brief and fatal sovereignty. In the sequel we +shall find other examples of a dying criminal representing a dying god. +For we must not forget that, as the case of the Shilluk kings clearly +shews,(350) the king is slain in his character of a god or a demigod, his +death and resurrection, as the only means of perpetuating the divine life +unimpaired, being deemed necessary for the salvation of his people and the +world. + +(M89) If at Babylon before the dawn of history the king himself used to be +slain at the festival of the Sacaea, it is natural to suppose that the +Sacaea was no other than Zagmuk or Zakmuk, the great New-year festival at +which down to historical times the king's power had to be formally renewed +by a religious ceremony in the temple of Marduk. The theory of the +identity of the festivals is indeed strongly supported by many +considerations and has been accepted by some eminent scholars,(351) but it +has to encounter a serious chronological difficulty, since Zagmuk fell +about the equinox in spring, whereas the Sacaea according to Berosus was +held on the sixteenth of the month Lous, which was the tenth month of the +Syro-Macedonian calendar and appears to have nearly coincided with July. +The question of the sameness or difference of these festivals will be +discussed later on.(352) Here it is to be observed that Zagmuk was +apparently celebrated in Assyria as well as in Babylonia. For at the end +of his great inscription Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, expresses a wish +that it may be granted to him to muster all his riding-horses and so forth +every year at Zagmuk in his palace.(353) But whether the power of the +Assyrian kings had, like that of the Babylonian monarchs, to be annually +renewed at this festival, we do not know. However, a trace of an annual +tenure of the kingly office in Assyria may perhaps, as Dr. C. Brockelmann +thinks,(354) be detected in the rule that an Assyrian king regularly gave +his name only to a single year of his reign, while all the other years +were named after certain officers and provincial governors, about thirty +in number, who were appointed for this purpose and succeeded each other +according to a fixed rotation.(355) But we know too little about the +institution of the _limu_ or eponymate to allow us to press this argument +for an annual tenure of the kingship in Assyria.(356) A reminiscence of +Zagmuk seems to linger in the belief of the Yezidis that on New-year's day +God sits on his throne arranging the decrees for the coming year, +assigning to dignitaries their various offices, and delivering to them +their credentials under his signature and seal.(357) + +(M90) The view that at Babylon the condemned prisoner who wore the royal +robes was slain as a substitute for the king may be supported by the +practice of West Africa, where at the funeral of a king slaves used +sometimes to be dressed up as ministers of state and then sacrificed in +that character instead of the real ministers, their masters, who purchased +for a sum of money the privilege of thus dying by proxy. Such vicarious +sacrifices were witnessed by Catholic missionaries at Porto Novo on the +Slave Coast.(358) + +(M91) A vestige of a practice of putting the king to death at the end of a +year's reign appears to have survived in the festival called Macahity, +which used to be celebrated in Hawaii during the last month of the year. +About a hundred years ago a Russian voyager described the custom as +follows: "The taboo Macahity is not unlike to our festival of Christmas. +It continues a whole month, during which the people amuse themselves with +dances, plays, and sham-fights of every kind. The king must open this +festival wherever he is. On this occasion his majesty dresses himself in +his richest cloak and helmet, and is paddled in a canoe along the shore, +followed sometimes by many of his subjects. He embarks early, and must +finish his excursion at sun-rise. The strongest and most expert of the +warriors is chosen to receive him on his landing. This warrior watches the +canoe along the beach; and as soon as the king lands, and has thrown off +his cloak, he darts his spear at him, from a distance of about thirty +paces, and the king must either catch the spear in his hand, or suffer +from it: there is no jesting in the business. Having caught it, he carries +it under his arm, with the sharp end downwards, into the temple or heavoo. +On his entrance, the assembled multitude begin their sham-fights, and +immediately the air is obscured by clouds of spears, made for the occasion +with blunted ends. Hamamea [the king] has been frequently advised to +abolish this ridiculous ceremony, in which he risks his life every year; +but to no effect. His answer always is, that he is as able to catch a +spear as any one on the island is to throw it at him. During the Macahity, +all punishments are remitted throughout the country; and no person can +leave the place in which he commences these holidays, let the affair be +ever so important."(359) + + + + +§ 9. Diurnal Tenure of the Kingship. + + +(M92) That a king should regularly have been put to death at the close of +a year's reign will hardly appear improbable when we learn that to this +day there is still a kingdom in which the reign and the life of the +sovereign are limited to a single day. In Ngoio, a province of the ancient +kingdom of Congo in West Africa, the rule obtains that the chief who +assumes the cap of sovereignty is always killed on the night after his +coronation. The right of succession lies with the chief of the Musurongo; +but we need not wonder that he does not exercise it, and that the throne +stands vacant. "No one likes to lose his life for a few hours' glory on +the Ngoio throne."(360) + + + + + +CHAPTER III. THE SLAYING OF THE KING IN LEGEND. + + +(M93) If a custom of putting kings to death at the end of a set term has +prevailed in many lands, it is natural enough that reminiscences of it +should survive in tradition long after the custom itself has been +abolished. In the _High History of the Holy Graal_ we read how Lancelot +roamed through strange lands and forests seeking adventures till he came +to a fair and wide plain lying without a city that seemed of right great +lordship. As he rode across the plain the people came forth from the city +to welcome him with the sound of flutes and viols and many instruments of +music. When he asked them what meant all this joy, " 'Sir,' said they, +'all this joy is made along of you, and all these instruments of music are +moved to joy and sound of gladness for your coming.' 'But wherefore for +me?' saith Lancelot. 'That shall you know well betimes,' say they. 'This +city began to burn and to melt in one of the houses from the very same +hour that our king was dead, nor might the fire be quenched, nor ever will +be quenched until such time as we have a king that shall be lord of the +city and of the honour thereunto belonging, and on New Year's Day behoveth +him to be crowned in the midst of the fire, and then shall the fire be +quenched, for otherwise may it never be put out nor extinguished. +Wherefore have we come to meet you to give you the royalty, for we have +been told that you are a good knight.' 'Lords,' saith Lancelot, 'of such a +kingdom have I no need, and God defend me from it.' 'Sir,' say they, 'you +may not be defended thereof, for you come into this land at hazard, and +great grief would it be that so good a land as you see this is were burnt +and melted away by the default of one single man, and the lordship is +right great, and this will be right great worship to yourself, that on New +Year's Day you should be crowned in the fire and thus save this city and +this great people, and thereof shall you have great praise.' Much +marvelleth Lancelot of this that they say. They come round about him on +all sides and lead him into the city. The ladies and damsels are mounted +to the windows of the great houses and make great joy, and say the one to +another, 'Look at the new king here that they are leading in. Now will he +quench the fire on New Year's Day.' 'Lord!' say the most part, 'what great +pity is it of so comely a knight that he shall end on such-wise!' 'Be +still!' say the others. 'Rather should there be great joy that so fair +city as is this should be saved by his death, for prayer will be made +throughout all the kingdom for his soul for ever!' Therewith they lead him +to the palace with right great joy and say that they will crown him. +Lancelot found the palace all strown with rushes and hung about with +curtains of rich cloths of silk, and the lords of the city all apparelled +to do him homage. But he refuseth right stoutly, and saith that their king +nor their lord will he never be in no such sort. Thereupon behold you a +dwarf that entereth into the city, leading one of the fairest dames that +be in any kingdom, and asketh whereof this joy and this murmuring may be. +They tell him they are fain to make the knight king, but that he is not +minded to allow them, and they tell him the whole manner of the fire. The +dwarf and the damsel are alighted, then they mount up to the palace. The +dwarf calleth the provosts of the city and the greater lords. 'Lords,' +saith he, 'sith that this knight is not willing to be king, I will be so +willingly, and I will govern the city at your pleasure and do whatsoever +you have devised to do.' 'In faith, sith that the knight refuseth this +honour and you desire to have it, willingly will we grant it you, and he +may go his way and his road, for herein do we declare him wholly quit.' +Therewithal they set the crown on the dwarf's head, and Lancelot maketh +great joy thereof. He taketh his leave, and they commend him to God, and +so remounteth he on his horse and goeth his way through the midst of the +city all armed. The dames and damsels say that he would not be king for +that he had no mind to die so soon."(361) + +(M94) A story of the same sort is told of Ujjain, the ancient capital of +Malwa in western India, where the renowned King Vikramaditya is said to +have held his court, gathering about him a circle of poets and +scholars.(362) Tradition has it that once on a time an arch-fiend, with a +legion of devils at his command, took up his abode in Ujjain, the +inhabitants of which he vexed and devoured. Many had fallen a prey to him, +and others had abandoned the country to save their lives. The once +populous city was fast being converted into a desert. At last the +principal citizens, meeting in council, besought the fiend to reduce his +rations to one man a day, who would be duly delivered up to him in order +that the rest might enjoy a day's repose. The demon closed with the offer, +but required that the man whose turn it was to be sacrificed should mount +the throne and exercise the royal power for a single day, all the grandees +of the kingdom submitting to his commands, and everybody yielding him the +most absolute obedience. Necessity obliged the citizens to accept these +hard terms; their names were entered on a list; every day one of them in +his turn ruled from morning to night, and was then devoured by the demon. + +(M95) Now it happened by great good luck that a caravan of merchants from +Gujerat halted on the banks of a river not far from the city. They were +attended by a servant who was no other than Vikramaditya. At nightfall the +jackals began to howl as usual, and one of them said in his own tongue, +"In two hours a human corpse will shortly float down this river, with four +rubies of great price at his belt, and a turquois ring on his finger. He +who will give me that corpse to devour will bear sway over the seven +lands." Vikramaditya, knowing the language of birds and beasts, understood +what the jackal said, gave the corpse to the beast to devour, and took +possession of the ring and the rubies. Next day he entered the town, and, +traversing the streets, observed a troop of horse under arms, forming a +royal escort, at the door of a potter's house. The grandees of the city +were there, and with them was the garrison. They were in the act of +inducing the son of the potter to mount an elephant and proceed in state +to the palace. But strange to say, instead of being pleased at the honour +conferred on their son, the potter and his wife stood on the threshold +weeping and sobbing most bitterly. Learning how things stood, the +chivalrous Vikramaditya was touched with pity, and offered to accept the +fatal sovereignty instead of the potter's son, saying that he would either +deliver the people from the tyranny of the demon or perish in the attempt. +Accordingly he donned the kingly robes, assumed all the badges of +sovereignty, and, mounting the elephant, rode in great pomp to the palace, +where he seated himself on the throne, while the dignitaries of the +kingdom discharged their duties in his presence. At night the fiend +arrived as usual to eat him up. But Vikramaditya was more than a match for +him, and after a terrific combat the fiend capitulated and agreed to quit +the city. Next morning the people on coming to the palace were astonished +to find Vikramaditya still alive. They thought he must be no common +mortal, but some superhuman being, or the descendant of a great king. +Grateful to him for their deliverance they bestowed the kingdom on him, +and he reigned happily over them.(363) + +(M96) According to one account, the dreadful being who ravaged Ujjain and +devoured a king every day was the bloodthirsty goddess Kali. When she +quitted the city she left behind her two sisters, whose quaint images +still frown on the spectator from the pillared portal known as +Vikramaditya's Gate at Ujjain. To these her sisters she granted the +privilege of devouring as many human beings as they pleased once every +twelve years. That tribute they still exact, though the European in his +blindness attributes the deaths to cholera. But in addition seven girls +and five buffaloes were to be sacrificed to them every year, and these +sacrifices used to be offered regularly until the practice was put down by +the English Government. It is said that the men who gave their +five-year-old daughters to be slain received grants of land as a reward of +their piety. Nowadays only buffaloes are killed at the Dacaratha festival, +which is held in October on the ninth day of the month Acvina. The heads +of the animals are buried at Vikramaditya's gateway, and those of the last +year's victims are taken up. The girls who would formerly have been +sacrificed are now released, but they are not allowed to marry, and their +fathers still receive grants of lands just as if the cruel sacrifice had +been consummated.(364) The persistence of these bloody rites at Ujjain +down to recent times raises a presumption that the tradition of the daily +sacrifice of a king in the same city was not purely mythical. + +(M97) It is worth while to consider another of the stories which are told +of King Vikramaditya. His birth is said to have been miraculous, for his +father was Gandharva-Sena, who was the son of the great god Indra. One day +Gandharva-Sena had the misfortune to offend his divine father, who was so +angry that he cursed his son and banished him from heaven to earth, there +to remain under the form of an ass by day and of a man by night until a +powerful king should burn his ass's body, after which Gandharva-Sena would +regain his proper shape and return to the upper world. All this happened +according to the divine word. In the shape of an ass the son of the god +rendered an important service to the King of Dhara, and received the hand +of the king's daughter as his reward. By day he was an ass and ate hay in +the stables; by night he was a man and enjoyed the company of the princess +his wife. But the king grew tired of the taunts of his enemies, as well as +of the gibes which were levelled by unfeeling wits at his asinine +son-in-law. So one night, while Gandharva-Sena in human shape was with his +wife, the king got hold of the ass's body which his son-in-law had +temporarily quitted, and throwing it on a fire burned it to ashes. On the +instant Gandharva-Sena appeared to him, and thanking him for undoing the +spell announced that he was about to return to heaven, but that his wife +was with child by him, and that she would bring forth a son who would bear +the name of Vikramaditya and be endowed with the strength of a thousand +elephants. The deserted wife was filled with sorrow at his departure, and +died in giving birth to Vikramaditya.(365) + +(M98) This story belongs to a widely diffused type of tale which in +England is known by the name of Beauty and the Beast. It relates how a +beast, doffing its animal shape, lives as a human husband or wife with a +human spouse. Often, though not always, their marriage has a tragic +ending. The couple live lovingly together for years and children are born +to them. But it is a condition of their union that the transformed husband +or wife should never be reminded of his or her old life in furry, +feathered, or finny form. At last one unhappy day the fairy spouse finds +his or her beast skin, which had been carefully hidden away by her or his +loving partner; or husband and wife quarrel and the real man or woman +taunts the other with her or his kinship with the beasts. The sight of the +once familiar skin awakens old memories and stirs yearnings that had been +long suppressed: the cruel words undo the kindness of years. The sometime +animal resumes its native shape and disappears, and the human husband or +wife is left lamenting. Sometimes, as in the story of Gandharva-Sena, the +destruction of the beast's skin causes the fairy mate to vanish for ever; +sometimes it enables him or her to remain thenceforth in human form with +the human wife or husband. Tales of this sort are told by savages in many +parts of the world, and many of them have survived in the folk-lore of +civilised peoples. With their implied belief that beasts can turn into men +or men into beasts, they must clearly have originated among savages who +see nothing incredible in such transformations. + +(M99) Now it is to be observed that stories of this sort are told by +savage tribes to explain why they abstain from eating certain creatures. +The reason they assign for the abstinence is that they themselves are +descended from a creature of that sort, who was changed for a time into +human shape and married a human husband or wife. Thus in the rivers of +Sarawak there is a certain fish called a _puttin_, which some of the Dyaks +will on no account eat, saying that if they did so they would be eating +their relations. Tradition runs that a solitary old man went out fishing +and caught a _puttin_, which he dragged out of the water and laid down in +his boat. On turning round he perceived that it had changed into a very +pretty girl. He thought she would make a charming wife for his son, so he +took her home and brought her up till she was of an age to marry. She +consented to be his son's wife, but cautioned her husband to use her well. +Some time after marriage, however, he was angry and struck her. She +screamed and rushed away into the water, leaving behind her a beautiful +daughter who became the mother of the race. Other Dyak tribes tell similar +stories of their ancestors.(366) Thus the Sea Dyaks relate how the +white-headed hawk married a Sea Dyak woman, and how he gave all his +daughters in marriage to the various omen-birds. Hence if a Sea Dyak kills +an omen-bird by mistake, he wraps it in a cloth and buries it carefully in +the earth along with rice, flesh, and money, entreating the bird not to be +vexed, and to forgive him, because it was all an accident.(367) Again, a +Kalamantan chief and all his people refrain from killing and eating deer +of a certain species (_cervulus muntjac_), because one of their ancestors +became a deer of that kind, and as they cannot distinguish his incarnation +from common deer they spare them all.(368) In these latter cases the +legends explaining the kinship of the men with the animals are not given +in full; we can only conjecture, therefore, that they conform to the type +here discussed. + +(M100) The Sea Dyaks also tell a story of the same sort to explain how +they first came to plant rice and to revere the omen-birds which play so +important a part in Dyak life. Long, long ago, so runs the tale, when rice +was yet unknown, and the Dyaks lived on tapioca, yams, potatoes, and such +fruits as they could procure, a handsome young chief named Siu went out +into the forest with his blow-pipe to shoot birds. He wandered without +seeing a bird or meeting an animal till the sun was sinking in the west. +Then he came to a wild fig-tree covered with ripe fruit, which a swarm of +birds of all kinds were busy pecking at. Never in his life had he seen so +many birds together! It seemed as if all the fowls of the forest were +gathered in the boughs of that tree. He killed a great many with the +poisoned darts of his blow-pipe, and putting them in his basket started +for home. But he lost his way in the wood, and the night had fallen before +he saw the lights and heard the usual sounds of a Dyak house. Hiding his +blow-pipe and the dead birds in the jungle, he went up the ladder into the +house, but what was his surprise to find it apparently deserted. There was +no one in the long verandah, and of the people whose voices he had heard a +minute before not one was to be seen. Only in one of the many rooms, dimly +lighted, he found a beautiful girl, who prepared for him his evening meal. +Now though Siu did not know it, the house was the house of the great +Singalang Burong, the Ruler of the Spirit World. He could turn himself and +his followers into any shape. When they went forth against an enemy they +took the form of birds for the sake of speed, and flew over the tall +trees, the broad rivers, and even the sea. But in his own house and among +his own people Singalang Burong appeared as a man. He had eight daughters, +and the girl who cooked Siu's food for him was the youngest. The reason +why the house was so still and deserted was that the people were in +mourning for some of their relatives who had just been killed, and the men +had gone out to take human heads in revenge. Siu stayed in the house for a +week, and then the girl, whose pet name was Bunsu Burong or "the youngest +of the bird family," agreed to marry him; but she said he must promise +never to kill or hurt a bird or even to hold one in his hands; for if he +did, she would be his wife no more. Siu promised, and together they +returned to his people. + +(M101) There they lived happily, and in time Siu's wife bore him a son +whom they named Seragunting. One day when the boy had grown wonderfully +tall and strong for his years and was playing with his fellows, a man +brought some birds which he had caught in a trap. Forgetting the promise +he had made to his wife, Siu asked the man to shew him the birds, and +taking one of them in his hand he stroked it. His wife saw it and was sad +at heart. She took the pitchers and went as though she would fetch water +from the well. But she never came back. Siu and his son sought her, +sorrowing, for days. At last after many adventures they came to the house +of the boy's grandfather, Singalang Burong, the Ruler of the Spirit World. +There they found the lost wife and mother, and there they stayed for a +time. But the heart of Siu yearned to his old home. He would fain have +persuaded his wife to return with him, but she would not. So at last he +and his son went back alone. But before he went he learned from his +father-in-law how to plant rice, and how to revere the sacred birds and to +draw omens from them. These birds were named after the sons-in-law of the +Ruler of the Spirit World and were the appointed means whereby he made +known his wishes to mankind. That is how the Sea Dyaks learned to plant +rice and to honour the omen-birds.(369) + +(M102) Stories of the same kind meet us on the west coast of Africa. Thus +the Tshi-speaking negroes of the Gold Coast are divided into a number of +great families or clans, mostly named after animals or plants, and the +members of a clan refrain from eating animals of the species whose name +they bear. In short, the various animals or plants are the totems of their +respective clans. Now some of the more recent of these clans possess +traditions of their origin, and in such cases the founder of the family, +from whom the name is derived, is always represented as having been a +beast, bird, or fish, which possessed the power of assuming human shape at +will. Thus, for instance, at the town of Chama there resides a family or +clan who take their name from the _sarfu_ or horse-mackerel, which they +may not eat because they are descended from a horse-mackerel. One day, so +runs the story, a native of Chama who had lost his wife was walking sadly +on the beach, when he met a beautiful young woman whom he persuaded to be +his wife. She consented, but told him that her home lay in the sea, that +her people were fishes, and that she herself was a fish, and she made him +swear that he would never allude to her old home and kinsfolk. All went +well for a time till her husband took a second wife, who quarrelled with +the first wife and taunted her with being a fish. That grieved her so that +she bade her husband good-bye and plunged into the sea with her youngest +child in her arms. But she left her two elder children behind, and from +them are descended the Horse-mackerel people of Chama. A similar story is +told of another family in the town of Appam. Their ancestor caught a fine +fish of the sort called _appei_, which turned into a beautiful woman and +became his wife. But she told him that in future neither they nor their +descendants might eat the _appei_ fish or else they would at once return +to the sea. The family, duly observing the prohibition, increased and +multiplied till they occupied the whole country, which was named after +them Appeim or Appam.(370) + +(M103) We may surmise that stories of this sort, wherever found, had a +similar origin; in other words, that they reflect and are intended to +explain a real belief in the kinship of certain families with certain +species of animals. Hence if the name totemism may be used to include all +such beliefs and the practices based on them, the origin of this type of +story may be said to be totemic.(371) Now, wherever the totemic clans have +become exogamous, that is, wherever a man is always obliged to marry a +woman of a totem different from his own, it is obvious that husband and +wife will always have to observe different totemic taboos, and that a want +of respect shewn by one of them for the sacred animal or plant of the +other would tend to domestic jars, which might often lead to the permanent +separation of the spouses, the offended wife or husband returning to her +or his native clan of the fish-people, the bird-people, or what not. That, +I take it, was the origin of the sad story of the man or woman happily +mated with a transformed animal and then parted for ever. Such tales, if I +am right, were not wholly fictitious. Totemism may have broken many loving +hearts. But when that ancient system of society had fallen into disuse, +and the ideas on which it was based had ceased to be understood, the +quaint stories of mixed marriages to which it had given birth would not be +at once forgotten. They would continue to be told, no longer indeed as +myths explanatory of custom, but merely as fairy tales for the amusement +of the listeners. The barbarous features of the old legends, which now +appeared too monstrously incredible even for story-tellers, would be +gradually discarded and replaced by others which fitted in better with the +changed beliefs of the time. Thus in particular the animal husband or +animal wife of the story might drop the character of a beast to assume +that of a fairy. This is the stage of decay exhibited by the two most +famous tales of the class in question, the Greek fable of Cupid and Psyche +and the Indian story of King Pururavas and the nymph Urvasi, though in the +latter we can still detect hints that the fairy wife was once a +bird-woman.(372) + +(M104) It would, no doubt, be a mistake to suppose that totemism, or a +system of taboos resembling it, must have existed wherever such stories +are told; for it is certain that popular tales spread by diffusion from +tribe to tribe and nation to nation, till they may be handed down by oral +tradition among people who neither practise nor even understand the +customs in which the stories originated. Yet the legend of the miraculous +parentage of Vikramaditya may very well have been based on the existence +at Ujjain of a line of rajahs who had the ass for their crest or +totem.(373) Such a custom is not without analogy in India. The crest of +the Maharajah of Nagpur is a cobra with a human face under its expanded +hood, surrounded by all the insignia of royalty. Moreover, the Rajah and +the chief members of his family always wear turbans so arranged that they +resemble a coiled serpent with its head projecting over the wearer's brow. +To explain this serpent badge a tale is told which conforms to the type of +Beauty and the Beast. Once upon a time a Nag or serpent named Pundarika +took upon himself the likeness of a Brahman, and repaired in that guise to +the house of a real Brahman at Benares, in order to perfect himself in a +knowledge of the sacred books. The teacher was so pleased with the +progress made by his pupil that he gave him his only child, the beautiful +Parvati, to wife. But the subtle serpent, though he could assume any form +at pleasure, was unable to rid himself of his forked tongue and foul +breath. To conceal these personal blemishes from his wife he always slept +with his back to her. One night, however, she got round him and discovered +his unpleasant peculiarities. She questioned him sharply, and to divert +her attention he proposed that they should make a pilgrimage to +Juggernaut. The idea of visiting that fashionable watering-place so raised +the lady's spirits that she quite forgot to pursue the enquiry. However, +on their way home her curiosity revived, and she repeated her questions +under circumstances which rendered it impossible for the serpent, as a +tender husband, to evade them, though well he knew that the disclosure he +was about to make would sever him, the immortal, at once and for ever from +his mortal wife. He related the wondrous tale, and, plunging into a pool, +disappeared from sight. His poor wife was inconsolable at his hurried +departure, and in the midst of her grief and remorse her child was born. +But instead of rejoicing at the birth, she made for herself a funeral pyre +and perished in the flames. At that moment a Brahman appeared on the +scene, and perceived the forsaken babe lying sheltered and guarded by a +great hooded snake. It was the serpent father protecting his child. +Addressing the Brahman, he narrated his history, and foretold that the +child should be called Phani-Makuta Raya, that is, "the snake crowned," +and that he should reign as rajah over the country to be called Nagpur. +That is why the rajahs of Nagpur have the serpent for their crest.(374) +Again, the rajahs of Manipur trace their descent from a divine snake. At +his installation a rajah of Manipur used to have to pass with great +solemnity between two massive dragons of stone which stood in front of the +coronation house. Somewhere inside the building was a mysterious chamber, +and in the chamber was a pipe, which, according to the popular belief, led +down to the depths of a cavern where dwells the snake god, the ancestor of +the royal family. The length and prosperity of the rajah's reign were +believed to depend on the length of time he could sit on the pipe enduring +the fiery breath of his serpentine forefather in the place below. Women +are specially devoted to the worship of the ancestral snake, and great +reverence is paid them in virtue of their sacred office.(375) + +The parallelism between the legends of Nagpur and Ujjain may be allowed to +strengthen my conjecture that, if we have a race of royal serpents in the +one place, there may well have been a race of royal asses in the other; +indeed such dynasties have perhaps not been so rare as might be supposed. + + + + + +CHAPTER IV. THE SUPPLY OF KINGS. + + +(M105) Tales of the foregoing sort might be dismissed as fictions designed +to amuse a leisure hour, were it not for their remarkable agreement with +beliefs and customs which, as we have seen, still exist, or are known to +have existed in former times. That agreement can hardly be accidental. We +seem to be justified, therefore, in assuming that stories of the kind +really rest on a basis of facts, however much these facts may have been +distorted or magnified in passing through the mind of the story-teller, +who is naturally more concerned to amuse than instruct his hearers. Even +the legend of a line of kings of whom each reigned for a single day, and +was sacrificed at night for the good of the people, will hardly seem +incredible when we remember that to this day a kingdom is held on a +similar tenure in west Africa, though under modern conditions the throne +stands vacant.(376) And while it would be vain to rely on such stories for +exact historical details, yet they may help us in a general way to +understand the practical working of an institution which to civilised men +seems at first sight to belong to the cloudland of fancy rather than to +the sober reality of the workaday world. Remark, for example, how in these +stories the supply of kings is maintained. In the Indian tradition all the +men of the city are put on a list, and each of them, when his turn comes, +is forced to reign for a day and to die the death. It is not left to his +choice to decide whether he will accept the fatal sovereignty or not. In +the _High History of the Holy Grail_ the mode of filling the vacant throne +is different. A stranger, not a citizen, is seized and compelled to accept +office. In the end, no doubt, the dwarf volunteers to be king, thus saving +Lancelot's life; but the narrative plainly implies that if a substitute +had not thus been found, Lancelot would have been obliged, whether he +would or not, to wear the crown and to perish in the fire. + +(M106) In thus representing the succession to a throne as compulsory, the +stories may well preserve a reminiscence of a real custom. To us, indeed, +who draw our ideas of kingship from the hereditary and highly privileged +monarchies of civilised Europe, the notion of thrusting the crown upon +reluctant strangers or common citizens of the lowest rank is apt to appear +fantastic and absurd. But that is merely because we fail to realise how +widely the modern type of kingship has diverged from the ancient pattern. +In early times the duties of sovereignty are more conspicuous than its +privileges. At a certain stage of development the chief or king is rather +the minister or servant than the ruler of his people. The sacred functions +which he is expected to discharge are deemed essential to the welfare, and +even the existence, of the community, and at any cost some one must be +found to perform them. Yet the burdens and restrictions of all sorts +incidental to the early kingship are such that not merely in popular +tales, but in actual practice, compulsion has sometimes been found +necessary to fill vacancies, while elsewhere the lack of candidates has +caused the office to fall into abeyance, or even to be abolished +altogether.(377) And where death stared the luckless monarch in the face +at the end of a brief reign of a few months or days, we need not wonder +that gaols had to be swept and the dregs of society raked to find a king. + +(M107) Yet we should doubtless err if we supposed that under such hard +conditions men could never be found ready and even eager to accept the +sovereignty. A variety of causes has led the modern nations of western +Europe to set on human life--their own life and that of others--a higher +value than is put upon it by many other races. The result is a fear of +death which is certainly not shared in the same degree of intensity by +some peoples whom we in our self-complacency are accustomed to regard as +our inferiors. Among the causes which thus tend to make us cowards may be +numbered the spread of luxury and the doctrines of a gloomy theology, +which by proclaiming the eternal damnation and excruciating torments of +the vast majority of mankind has added incalculably to the dread and +horror of death. The growth of humaner sentiments, which seldom fails to +effect a corresponding amelioration in the character even of the gods, has +indeed led many Protestant divines of late years to temper the rigour of +the divine justice with a large infusion of mercy by relegating the fires +of hell to a decent obscurity or even extinguishing them altogether. But +these lurid flames appear to blaze as fiercely as ever in the more +conservative theology of the Catholic Church.(378) + +(M108) It would be easy to accumulate evidence of the indifference or +apathy exhibited in presence of death by races whom we commonly brand as +lower. A few examples must here suffice. Speaking of the natives of India +an English writer observes: "We place the highest value on life, while +they, being blessed with a comfortable fatalism, which assumes that each +man's destiny is written on his forehead in invisible characters, and +being besides untroubled with any doubts or thoughts as to the nature of +their reception in the next world, take matters of life and death a great +deal more unconcernedly, and, compared with our ideas, they may be said to +present an almost apathetic indifference on these subjects."(379) To the +same effect another English writer remarks that "the absence of that fear +of death, which is so powerful in the hearts of civilised men, is the most +remarkable trait in the Hindu character."(380) Among the natives of Annam, +according to a Catholic missionary, "the subject of death has nothing +alarming for anybody. In presence of a sick man people will speak of his +approaching end and of his funeral as readily as of anything else. Hence +we never need to take the least verbal precaution in warning the sick to +prepare themselves to receive the last sacraments. Some time ago I was +summoned to a neophyte whose death, though certain, was still distant. On +entering the house I found a woman seated at his bedside sewing the +mourning dresses of the family. Moreover, the carpenter was fitting +together the boards of the coffin quite close to the door of the house, so +that the dying man could observe the whole proceeding from his bed. The +worthy man superintended personally all these details and gave directions +for each of the operations. He even had for his pillow part of the +mourning costume which was already finished. I could tell you a host of +anecdotes of the same sort." Among these people it is a mark of filial +piety to present a father or mother with a coffin; the presentation is the +occasion of a family festival to which all friends are invited. Pupils +display their respect for their masters in the same fashion. Bishop +Masson, whose letter I have just quoted, was himself presented with a fine +coffin by some of his converts as a New Year gift and a token of their +respect and affection; they invited his attention particularly to the +quality of the wood and the beauty of the workmanship.(381) + +(M109) With regard to the North American Indians a writer who knew them +well has said that among them "the idea of immortality is strongly dwelt +upon. It is not spoken of as a supposition or a mere belief, not fixed. It +is regarded as an actuality,--as something known and approved by the +judgment of the nation. During the whole period of my residence and +travels in the Indian country, I never knew and never heard of an Indian +who did not believe in it, and in the reappearance of the body in a future +state. However mistaken they are on the subject of accountabilities for +acts done in the present life, no small part of their entire mythology, +and the belief that sustains the man in his vicissitudes and wanderings +here, arises from the anticipation of ease and enjoyment in a future +condition, after the soul has left the body. The resignation, nay, the +alacrity with which an Indian frequently lies down and surrenders life, is +to be ascribed to this prevalent belief. He does not fear to go to a land +which, all his life long, he has heard abounds in rewards without +punishments."(382) Another traveller, who saw much of the South American +Indians, asserts that they surpass the beasts in their insensibility to +hardship and pain, never complaining in sickness nor even when they are +being killed, and exhibiting in their last moments an apathetic +indifference untroubled by any misgiving as to the future.(383) + +(M110) Wholesale butcheries of human beings were perpetrated till lately +in the name of religion in the west African kingdom of Dahomey. As to the +behaviour of the victims we are told that "almost invariably, those doomed +to die exhibit the greatest coolness and unconcern. The natural dread of +death which the instinct of self-preservation has implanted in every +breast, often leads persons who are liable to be seized for immolation to +endeavour to escape; but once they are seized and bound, they resign +themselves to their fate with the greatest apathy. This is partly due to +the less delicate nervous system of the negro; but one reason, and that +not the least, is that they have nothing to fear. As has been said, they +have but to undergo a surgical operation and a change of place of +residence; there is no uncertain future to be faced, and, above all, there +is an entire absence of that notion of a place of terrible punishment +which makes so many Europeans cowards when face to face with death."(384) +One of the earliest European settlers on the coast of Brazil has remarked +on the indifference exhibited by the Indian prisoners who were about to be +massacred by their enemies. He conversed with the captives, men young, +strong, and handsome. To his question whether they did not fear the death +that was so near and so appalling, they replied with laughter and mockery. +When he spoke of ransoming them from their foes, they jeered at the +cowardice of Europeans.(385) The Khonds of India practised an extensive +system of human sacrifice, of which we shall hear more in the sequel. The +victims, known as Meriahs, were kept for years to be sacrificed, and their +manner of death was peculiarly horrible, since they were hacked to pieces +or slowly roasted alive. Yet when these destined victims were rescued by +the English officers who were engaged in putting down the custom, they +generally availed themselves of any opportunity to escape from their +deliverers and returned to their fate.(386) In Uganda there were formerly +many sacrificial places where human victims used to be slaughtered or +burned to death, sometimes in hundreds, from motives of superstition. +"Those who have taken part in these executions bear witness how seldom a +victim, whether man or woman, raised his voice to protest or appeal +against the treatment meted out to him. The victims went to death (so they +thought) to save their country and race from some calamity, and they laid +down their lives without a murmur or a struggle."(387) + +(M111) But it is not merely that men of other races and other religions +submit to inevitable death with an equanimity which modern Europeans in +general cannot match; they often actually seek and find it for reasons +which seem to us wholly inadequate. The motives which lead them to +sacrifice their lives are very various. Among them religious fanaticism +has probably been one of the commonest, and in the preceding pages we have +met with many instances of voluntary deaths incurred under its powerful +impulse.(388) But more secular motives, such as loyalty, revenge, and an +excessive sensibility on the point of honour, have also driven multitudes +to throw away their lives with a levity which may strike the average +modern Englishman as bordering on insanity. It may be well to illustrate +this comparative indifference to death by a few miscellaneous examples +drawn from different races. Thus, when the king of Benin died and was +about to be lowered into the earth, his favourites and servants used to +compete with each other for the privilege of being buried alive with his +body in order that they might attend and minister to him in the other +world. After the dispute was settled and the tomb had closed over the dead +and the living, sentinels were set to watch it day and night. Next day the +sepulchre would be opened and some one would call down to the entombed men +to know what they were doing and whether any of them had gone to serve the +king. The answer was commonly, "No, not yet." The third day the same +question would be put, and a voice would reply that so-and-so had gone to +join his Majesty. The first to die was deemed the happiest. In four or +five days when no answer came up to the question, and all was silent in +the grave, the heir to the throne was informed, and he signalised his +accession by kindling a fire on the tomb, roasting flesh at it, and +distributing the meat to the people.(389) The daughter of a Mbaya chief in +South America, having been happily baptized at the very point of death, +was accorded Christian burial in the church by the Jesuit missionary who +had rescued her like a brand from the burning. But an old heathen woman of +the tribe took it sadly to heart that her chief's daughter should not be +honoured with the usual human sacrifices. So, drawing an Indian aside, she +implored him to be so kind as to knock her on the head, that she might go +and serve her young mistress in the Land of Souls. The savage obligingly +complied with her request, and the whole horde begged the missionary that +her body might be buried with that of the chief's daughter. The Jesuit +sternly refused. He informed them that the girl was now with the angels, +and stood in need of no such attendant. As for the old woman, he observed +grimly that she had gone to a very different place and would move in a +very different circle of society.(390) When Otho committed suicide after +the battle of Bedriacum, some of his soldiers slew themselves at his pyre, +and their example was afterwards followed by many of their comrades in the +armies which had marched with Otho to meet Vitellius; their motive was not +fear of the conqueror, but purely loyalty and devotion to their +emperor.(391) + +(M112) In the East that indifference to human life which seems so strange +to the Western mind often takes a peculiar form. A man will sometimes kill +himself merely in order to be revenged on his foe, believing that his +ghost will haunt and torment the survivor, or expecting that punishment of +some sort will overtake the wretch who drove him to this extreme +step.(392) Among some peoples etiquette requires that if a man commits +suicide for this purpose, his enemy should at once follow his example. To +take a single example. There is a caste of robbers in southern India among +whom "the law of retaliation prevails in all its rigour. If a quarrel +takes place, and somebody tears out his own eye or kills himself, his +adversary must do the same either to himself or to one of his relations. +The women carry this barbarity still further. For a slight affront put on +them, a sharp word said to them, they will go and smash their head against +the door of her who offended them, and the latter is obliged immediately +to do the same. If a woman poisons herself by drinking the juice of a +poisonous herb, the other woman who drove her to this violent death must +poison herself likewise; else her house will be burned, her cattle carried +off, and injuries of all kinds done her until satisfaction is given. They +extend this cruelty even to their own children. Not long ago, a few steps +from the church in which I have the honour to write to you, two of these +barbarians having quarrelled, one of them ran to his house, took from it a +child of about four years, and crushed its head between two stones in the +presence of his enemy. The latter, without exhibiting any emotion, took +his nine-years' old daughter, and, plunging a dagger into her breast, +said, 'Your child was only four years old, mine was nine years old. Give +me a victim to equal her.' 'Certainly,' replied the other, and seeing at +his side his eldest son, who was ready to be married, he stabbed him four +or five times with his dagger; and, not content with shedding the blood of +his two sons, he killed his wife too, in order to oblige his enemy to +murder his wife in like manner. Lastly, a little girl and a baby at the +breast had also their throats cut, so that in a single day seven persons +were sacrificed to the vengeance of two bloodthirsty men, more cruel than +the most ferocious brutes. I have actually in my church a young man who +sought refuge among us, wounded by a spear-thrust which his father +inflicted on him in order to kill him and thus oblige his foe to slay his +own son in like manner. The barbarian had already stabbed two of his +children on other occasions for the same purpose. Such atrocious examples +will seem to you to partake more of fable than of truth; but believe me +that far from exaggerating, I could produce many others not less +tragical."(393) + +(M113) The same contempt of death which many races have exhibited in +modern times was displayed in antiquity by the hardy natives of Europe +before Christianity had painted the world beyond the grave in colours at +which even their bold spirits quailed. Thus, for example, at their +banquets the rude Thracians used to suspend a halter over a movable stone +and cast lots among themselves. The man on whom the lot fell mounted the +stone with a scimitar in his hand and thrust his head into the noose. A +comrade then rolled the stone from under him, and while he did so the +other attempted to sever the rope with his scimitar. If he succeeded he +dropped to the ground and was saved; if he failed, he was hanged, and his +dying struggles were greeted with peals of laughter by his fellows, who +regarded the whole thing as a capital joke.(394) The Greek traveller +Posidonius, who visited Gaul early in the first century before our era, +records that among the Celts men were to be found who for a sum of money +or a number of jars of wine, which they distributed among their kinsmen or +friends, would allow themselves to be publicly slaughtered in a theatre. +They lay down on their backs upon a shield and a man came and cut their +throats with a sword.(395) + +(M114) A Greek author, Euphorion of Chalcis, who lived in the age when the +eyes of all the world were turned on the great conflict between Rome and +Carthage for the mastery of the Mediterranean, tells us that at Rome it +was customary to advertise for men who would consent to be beheaded with +an axe in consideration of receiving a sum of five _minae_, or about +twenty pounds of our money, to be paid after their death to their heirs. +Apparently there was no lack of applicants for this hard-earned bounty; +for we are informed that several candidates would often compete for the +privilege, each of them arguing that he had the best right to be cudgelled +to death.(396) Why were these men invited to be beheaded for twenty pounds +a piece? and why in response to the invitation did they gratuitously, as +it would seem, express their readiness to suffer a much more painful death +than simple decapitation? The reasons are not stated by Euphorion in the +brief extract quoted from his work by Athenaeus, the Greek writer who has +also preserved for us the testimony of Posidonius to the Gallic +recklessness of life. But the connexion in which Athenaeus cites both +these passages suggests that the intention of the Roman as of the Gallic +practice was merely to minister to the brutal pleasure of the spectators; +for he inserts his account of the customs in a dissertation on banquets, +and he had just before described how hired ruffians fought and butchered +each other at Roman dinner-parties for the amusement of the tipsy +guests.(397) Or perhaps the men were wanted to be slaughtered at funerals, +for we know that at Rome a custom formerly prevailed of sacrificing human +beings at the tomb: the victims were commonly captives or slaves,(398) but +they may sometimes have been obtained by advertisement from among the +class of needy freemen. Such wretches in bidding against each other may +have pleaded as a reason for giving them the preference that they really +deserved for their crimes to die a slow and painful death under the cudgel +of the executioner. This explanation of the custom, which I owe to my +friend Mr. W. Wyse, is perhaps the most probable. But it is also possible, +though the language of Euphorion does not lend itself so well to this +interpretation, that a cudgelling preceded decapitation as part of the +bargain. If that was so, it would seem that the men were wanted to die as +substitutes for condemned criminals; for in old Rome capital punishment +was regularly inflicted in this fashion, the malefactors being tied up to +a post and scourged with rods before they were beheaded with an axe.(399) +There is nothing improbable in the view that persons could be hired to +suffer the extreme penalty of the law instead of the real culprits. We +shall see that a voluntary substitution of the same sort is reported on +apparently good authority to be still occasionally practised in China. +However, it is immaterial to our purpose whether these men perished to +save others, to adorn a funeral, or merely to gratify the Roman lust for +blood. The one thing that concerns us is that in the great age of Rome +there were to be found Romans willing, nay, eager to barter their lives +for a paltry sum of money of which they were not even to have the +enjoyment. No wonder that men made of that stuff founded a great empire, +and spread the terror of the Roman arms from the Grampians to the +tropics.(400) + +(M115) The comparative indifference with which the Chinese regard their +lives is attested by the readiness with which they commit suicide on +grounds which often seem to the European extremely trifling.(401) A still +more striking proof of their apathy in this respect is furnished by the +readiness with which in China a man can be induced to suffer death for a +sum of money to be paid to his relatives. Thus, for example, "one of the +most wealthy of the aboriginal tribes, called Shurii-Kia-Miau, is +remarkable for the practice of a singular and revolting religious +ceremony. The people possess a large temple, in which is an idol in the +form of a dog. They resort to this shrine on a certain day every year to +worship. At this annual religious festival it is, I believe, customary for +the wealthy members of the tribe to entertain their poorer brethren at a +banquet given in honour of one who has agreed, for a sum of money paid to +his family, to allow himself to be offered as a sacrifice on the altar of +the dog idol. At the end of the banquet the victim, having drunk wine +freely, is put to death before the idol. This people believe that, were +they to neglect this rite, they would be visited with pestilence, famine, +or the sword."(402) Further, it is said that in China a man condemned to +death can procure a substitute, who, for a small sum, will voluntarily +consent to be executed in his stead. The money goes to the substitute's +kinsfolk, and since to increase the family prosperity at the expense of +personal suffering is regarded by the Chinese as an act of the highest +virtue, there is reported to be, just as there used to be in ancient Rome, +quite a competition among the candidates for death. Such a substitution is +even recognised by the Chinese authorities, except in the case of certain +grave crimes, as for instance parricide. The local mandarin is probably +not averse to the arrangement, for he is said to make a pecuniary profit +by the transaction, engaging a substitute for a less sum than he received +from the condemned man, and pocketing the difference.(403) + +(M116) The foregoing evidence may suffice to convince us that we should +commit a grievous error were we to judge all men's love of life by our +own, and to assume that others cannot hold cheap what we count so dear. We +shall never understand the long course of human history if we persist in +measuring mankind in all ages and in all countries by the standard, +perhaps excellent but certainly narrow, of the modern English middle class +with their love of material comfort and "their passionate, absorbing, +almost bloodthirsty clinging to life." That class, of which I may say, in +the words of Matthew Arnold, that I am myself a feeble unit, doubtless +possesses many estimable qualities, but among them can hardly be reckoned +the rare and delicate gift of historical imagination, the power of +entering into the thoughts and feelings of men of other ages and other +countries, of conceiving that they may regulate their life by principles +which do not square with ours, and may throw it away for objects which to +us might seem ridiculously inadequate.(404) + +(M117) To return, therefore, to the point from which we started, we may +safely assume that in some races, and at some periods of history, though +certainly not in the well-to-do classes of England to-day, it might be +easy to find men who would willingly accept a kingdom with the certainty +of being put to death after a reign of a year or less. Where men are +ready, as they have been in Gaul, in Rome, and in China, to yield up their +lives at once for a paltry sum of which they are themselves to reap no +benefit, would they not be willing to purchase at the same price a year's +tenure of a throne? Among people of that sort the difficulty would +probably be not so much to find a candidate for the crown as to decide +between the conflicting claims of a multitude of competitors. In point of +fact we have heard of a Shilluk clamouring to be made king on condition of +being killed at the end of a brief reign of a single day, and we have read +how in Malabar a crowd scrambled for the bloody head which entitled the +lucky man who caught it to be decapitated after five years of unlimited +enjoyment, and how at Calicut many men used to rush cheerfully on death, +not for a kingship of a year, or even of an hour, but merely for the +honour of displaying their valour in a fruitless attack on the king.(405) + + + + + +CHAPTER V. TEMPORARY KINGS. + + +(M118) In some places the modified form of the old custom of regicide +which appears to have prevailed at Babylon(406) has been further softened +down. The king still abdicates annually for a short time and his place is +filled by a more or less nominal sovereign; but at the close of his short +reign the latter is no longer killed, though sometimes a mock execution +still survives as a memorial of the time when he was actually put to +death. To take examples. In the month of Meac (February) the king of +Cambodia annually abdicated for three days. During this time he performed +no act of authority, he did not touch the seals, he did not even receive +the revenues which fell due. In his stead there reigned a temporary king +called Sdach Meac, that is, King February. The office of temporary king +was hereditary in a family distantly connected with the royal house, the +sons succeeding the fathers and the younger brothers the elder brothers, +just as in the succession to the real sovereignty. On a favourable day +fixed by the astrologers the temporary king was conducted by the mandarins +in triumphal procession. He rode one of the royal elephants, seated in the +royal palanquin, and escorted by soldiers who, dressed in appropriate +costumes, represented the neighbouring peoples of Siam, Annam, Laos, and +so on. In place of the golden crown he wore a peaked white cap, and his +regalia, instead of being of gold encrusted with diamonds, were of rough +wood. After paying homage to the real king, from whom he received the +sovereignty for three days, together with all the revenues accruing during +that time (though this last custom has been omitted for some time), he +moved in procession round the palace and through the streets of the +capital. On the third day, after the usual procession, the temporary king +gave orders that the elephants should trample under foot the "mountain of +rice," which was a scaffold of bamboo surrounded by sheaves of rice. The +people gathered up the rice, each man taking home a little with him to +secure a good harvest. Some of it was also taken to the king, who had it +cooked and presented to the monks.(407) + +(M119) In Siam on the sixth day of the moon in the sixth month (the end of +April) a temporary king is appointed, who for three days enjoys the royal +prerogatives, the real king remaining shut up in his palace. This +temporary king sends his numerous satellites in all directions to seize +and confiscate whatever they can find in the bazaar and open shops; even +the ships and junks which arrive in harbour during the three days are +forfeited to him and must be redeemed. He goes to a field in the middle of +the city, whither they bring a gilded plough drawn by gaily-decked oxen. +After the plough has been anointed and the oxen rubbed with incense, the +mock king traces nine furrows with the plough, followed by aged dames of +the palace scattering the first seed of the season. As soon as the nine +furrows are drawn, the crowd of spectators rushes in and scrambles for the +seed which has just been sown, believing that, mixed with the seed-rice, +it will ensure a plentiful crop. Then the oxen are unyoked, and rice, +maize, sesame, sago, bananas, sugar-cane, melons, and so on, are set +before them; whatever they eat first will, it is thought, be dear in the +year following, though some people interpret the omen in the opposite +sense. During this time the temporary king stands leaning against a tree +with his right foot resting on his left knee. From standing thus on one +foot he is popularly known as King Hop; but his official title is Phaya +Phollathep, "Lord of the Heavenly Hosts."(408) He is a sort of Minister of +Agriculture; all disputes about fields, rice, and so forth, are referred +to him. There is moreover another ceremony in which he personates the +king. It takes place in the second month (which falls in the cold season) +and lasts three days. He is conducted in procession to an open place +opposite the Temple of the Brahmans, where there are a number of poles +dressed like May-poles, upon which the Brahmans swing. All the while that +they swing and dance, the Lord of the Heavenly Hosts has to stand on one +foot upon a seat which is made of bricks plastered over, covered with a +white cloth, and hung with tapestry. He is supported by a wooden frame +with a gilt canopy, and two Brahmans stand one on each side of him. The +dancing Brahmans carry buffalo horns with which they draw water from a +large copper caldron and sprinkle it on the spectators; this is supposed +to bring good luck, causing the people to dwell in peace and quiet, health +and prosperity. The time during which the Lord of the Heavenly Hosts has +to stand on one foot is about three hours. This is thought "to prove the +dispositions of the Devattas and spirits." If he lets his foot down "he is +liable to forfeit his property and have his family enslaved by the king; +as it is believed to be a bad omen, portending destruction to the state, +and instability to the throne. But if he stand firm he is believed to have +gained a victory over evil spirits, and he has moreover the privilege, +ostensibly at least, of seizing any ship which may enter the harbour +during these three days, and taking its contents, and also of entering any +open shop in the town and carrying away what he chooses."(409) + +(M120) Such were the duties and privileges of the Siamese King Hop down to +about the middle of the nineteenth century or later. Under the reign of +the late enlightened monarch this quaint personage was to some extent both +shorn of the glories and relieved of the burden of his office. He still +watches, as of old, the Brahmans rushing through the air in a swing +suspended between two tall masts, each some ninety feet high; but he is +allowed to sit instead of stand, and, although public opinion still +expects him to keep his right foot on his left knee during the whole of +the ceremony, he would incur no legal penalty were he, to the great +chagrin of the people, to put his weary foot to the ground. Other signs, +too, tell of the invasion of the East by the ideas and civilisation of the +West. The thoroughfares that lead to the scene of the performance are +blocked with carriages: lamp-posts and telegraph posts, to which eager +spectators cling like monkeys, rise above the dense crowd; and, while a +tatterdemalion band of the old style, in gaudy garb of vermilion and +yellow, bangs and tootles away on drums and trumpets of an antique +pattern, the procession of barefooted soldiers in brilliant uniforms steps +briskly along to the lively strains of a modern military band playing +"Marching through Georgia."(410) + +(M121) On the first day of the sixth month, which was regarded as the +beginning of the year, the king and people of Samaracand used to put on +new clothes and cut their hair and beards. Then they repaired to a forest +near the capital where they shot arrows on horseback for seven days. On +the last day the target was a gold coin, and he who hit it had the right +to be king for one day.(411) In Upper Egypt on the first day of the solar +year by Coptic reckoning, that is, on the tenth of September, when the +Nile has generally reached its highest point, the regular government is +suspended for three days and every town chooses its own ruler. This +temporary lord wears a sort of tall fool's cap and a long flaxen beard, +and is enveloped in a strange mantle. With a wand of office in his hand +and attended by men disguised as scribes, executioners, and so forth, he +proceeds to the Governor's house. The latter allows himself to be deposed; +and the mock king, mounting the throne, holds a tribunal, to the decisions +of which even the governor and his officials must bow. After three days +the mock king is condemned to death; the envelope or shell in which he was +encased is committed to the flames, and from its ashes the Fellah creeps +forth.(412) The custom perhaps points to an old practice of burning a real +king in grim earnest. In Uganda the brothers of the king used to be +burned, because it was not lawful to shed the royal blood.(413) + +(M122) The Mohammedan students of Fez, in Morocco, are allowed to appoint +a sultan of their own, who reigns for a few weeks, and is known as _Sultan +t-tulba_, "the Sultan of the Scribes." This brief authority is put up for +auction and knocked down to the highest bidder. It brings some substantial +privileges with it, for the holder is freed from taxes thenceforward, and +he has the right of asking a favour from the real sultan. That favour is +seldom refused; it usually consists in the release of a prisoner. +Moreover, the agents of the student-sultan levy fines on the shopkeepers +and householders, against whom they trump up various humorous charges. The +temporary sultan is surrounded with the pomp of a real court, and parades +the streets in state with music and shouting, while a royal umbrella is +held over his head. With the so-called fines and free-will offerings, to +which the real sultan adds a liberal supply of provisions, the students +have enough to furnish forth a magnificent banquet; and altogether they +enjoy themselves thoroughly, indulging in all kinds of games and +amusements. For the first seven days the mock sultan remains in the +college; then he goes about a mile out of the town and encamps on the bank +of the river, attended by the students and not a few of the citizens. On +the seventh day of his stay outside the town he is visited by the real +sultan, who grants him his request and gives him seven more days to reign, +so that the reign of "the Sultan of the Scribes" nominally lasts three +weeks. But when six days of the last week have passed the mock sultan runs +back to the town by night. This temporary sultanship always falls in +spring, about the beginning of April. Its origin is said to have been as +follows. When Mulai Rasheed II. was fighting for the throne in 1664 or +1665, a certain Jew usurped the royal authority at Taza. But the rebellion +was soon suppressed through the loyalty and devotion of the students. To +effect their purpose they resorted to an ingenious stratagem. Forty of +them caused themselves to be packed in chests which were sent as a present +to the usurper. In the dead of night, while the unsuspecting Jew was +slumbering peacefully among the packing-cases, the lids were stealthily +raised, the brave forty crept forth, slew the usurper, and took possession +of the city in the name of the real sultan, who, to mark his gratitude for +the help thus rendered him in time of need, conferred on the students the +right of annually appointing a sultan of their own.(414) The narrative has +all the air of a fiction devised to explain an old custom, of which the +real meaning and origin had been forgotten. + +(M123) A custom of annually appointing a mock king for a single day was +observed at Lostwithiel in Cornwall down to the sixteenth century. On +"little Easter Sunday" the freeholders of the town and manor assembled +together, either in person or by their deputies, and one among them, as it +fell to his lot by turn, gaily attired and gallantly mounted, with a crown +on his head, a sceptre in his hand, and a sword borne before him, rode +through the principal street to the church, dutifully attended by all the +rest on horseback. The clergyman in his best robes received him at the +churchyard stile and conducted him to hear divine service. On leaving the +church he repaired, with the same pomp, to a house provided for his +reception. Here a feast awaited him and his suite, and being set at the +head of the table he was served on bended knees, with all the rites due to +the estate of a prince. The ceremony ended with the dinner, and every man +returned home.(415) + +(M124) Sometimes the temporary king occupies the throne, not annually, but +once for all at the beginning of each reign. Thus in the kingdom of Jambi, +in Sumatra, it is the custom that at the beginning of a new reign a man of +the people should occupy the throne and exercise the royal prerogatives +for a single day. The origin of the custom is explained by a tradition +that there were once five royal brothers, the four elder of whom all +declined the throne on the ground of various bodily defects, leaving it to +their youngest brother. But the eldest occupied the throne for one day, +and reserved for his descendants a similar privilege at the beginning of +every reign. Thus the office of temporary king is hereditary in a family +akin to the royal house.(416) In Bilaspur it seems to be the custom, after +the death of a Rajah, for a Brahman to eat rice out of the dead Rajah's +hand, and then to occupy the throne for a year. At the end of the year the +Brahman receives presents and is dismissed from the territory, being +forbidden apparently to return. "The idea seems to be that the spirit of +the Raja enters into the Brahman who eats the _khir_ (rice and milk) out +of his hand when he is dead, as the Brahman is apparently carefully +watched during the whole year, and not allowed to go away." The same or a +similar custom is believed to obtain among the hill states about +Kangra.(417) The custom of banishing the Brahman who represents the king +may be a substitute for putting him to death. At the installation of a +prince of Carinthia a peasant, in whose family the office was hereditary, +ascended a marble stone which stood surrounded by meadows in a spacious +valley; on his right stood a black mother-cow, on his left a lean ugly +mare. A rustic crowd gathered about him. Then the future prince, dressed +as a peasant and carrying a shepherd's staff, drew near, attended by +courtiers and magistrates. On perceiving him the peasant called out, "Who +is this whom I see coming so proudly along?" The people answered, "The +prince of the land." The peasant was then prevailed on to surrender the +marble seat to the prince on condition of receiving sixty pence, the cow +and mare, and exemption from taxes. But before yielding his place he gave +the prince a light blow on the cheek.(418) + +(M125) Some points about these temporary kings deserve to be specially +noticed before we pass to the next branch of the evidence. In the first +place, the Cambodian and Siamese examples shew clearly that it is +especially the divine or magical functions of the king which are +transferred to his temporary substitute. This appears from the belief that +by keeping up his foot the temporary king of Siam gained a victory over +the evil spirits, whereas by letting it down he imperilled the existence +of the state. Again, the Cambodian ceremony of trampling down the +"mountain of rice," and the Siamese ceremony of opening the ploughing and +sowing, are charms to produce a plentiful harvest, as appears from the +belief that those who carry home some of the trampled rice, or of the seed +sown, will thereby secure a good crop. Moreover, when the Siamese +representative of the king is guiding the plough, the people watch him +anxiously, not to see whether he drives a straight furrow, but to mark the +exact point on his leg to which the skirt of his silken robe reaches; for +on that is supposed to hang the state of the weather and the crops during +the ensuing season. If the Lord of the Heavenly Hosts hitches up his +garment above his knee, the weather will be wet and heavy rains will spoil +the harvest. If he lets it trail to his ankle, a drought will be the +consequence. But fine weather and heavy crops will follow if the hem of +his robe hangs exactly half-way down the calf of his leg.(419) So closely +is the course of nature, and with it the weal or woe of the people, +dependent on the minutest act or gesture of the king's representative. But +the task of making the crops grow, thus deputed to the temporary kings, is +one of the magical functions regularly supposed to be discharged by kings +in primitive society. The rule that the mock king must stand on one foot +upon a raised seat in the rice-field was perhaps originally meant as a +charm to make the crop grow high; at least this was the object of a +similar ceremony observed by the old Prussians. The tallest girl, standing +on one foot upon a seat, with her lap full of cakes, a cup of brandy in +her right hand and a piece of elm-bark or linden-bark in her left, prayed +to the god Waizganthos that the flax might grow as high as she was +standing. Then, after draining the cup, she had it refilled, and poured +the brandy on the ground as an offering to Waizganthos, and threw down the +cakes for his attendant sprites. If she remained steady on one foot +throughout the ceremony, it was an omen that the flax crop would be good; +but if she let her foot down, it was feared that the crop might fail.(420) +The same significance perhaps attaches to the swinging of the Brahmans, +which the Lord of the Heavenly Hosts had formerly to witness standing on +one foot. On the principles of homoeopathic or imitative magic it might be +thought that the higher the priests swing the higher will grow the rice. +For the ceremony is described as a harvest festival,(421) and swinging is +practised by the Letts of Russia with the avowed intention of influencing +the growth of the crops. In the spring and early summer, between Easter +and St. John's Day (the summer solstice), every Lettish peasant is said to +devote his leisure hours to swinging diligently; for the higher he rises +in the air the higher will his flax grow that season.(422) The gilded +plough with which the Siamese mock king opens the ploughing may be +compared with the bronze ploughs which the Etruscans employed at the +ceremony of founding cities;(423) in both cases the use of bare iron was +probably forbidden on superstitious grounds.(424) + +(M126) In the foregoing cases the temporary king is appointed annually in +accordance with a regular custom. But in other cases the appointment is +made only to meet a special emergency, such as to relieve the real king +from some actual or threatened evil by diverting it to a substitute, who +takes his place on the throne for a short time. The history of Persia +furnishes instances of such occasional substitutes for the Shah. Thus Shah +Abbas the Great, the most eminent of all the kings of Persia, who reigned +from 1586 to 1628 A.D., being warned by his astrologers in the year 1591 +that a serious danger impended over him, attempted to avert the omen by +abdicating the throne and appointing a certain unbeliever named Yusoofee, +probably a Christian, to reign in his stead. The substitute was +accordingly crowned, and for three days, if we may trust the Persian +historians, he enjoyed not only the name and the state but the power of +the king. At the end of his brief reign he was put to death: the decree of +the stars was fulfilled by this sacrifice; and Abbas, who reascended his +throne in a most propitious hour, was promised by his astrologers a long +and glorious reign.(425) Again, Shah Sufi II., who reigned from 1668 to +1694 A.D., was crowned a second time and changed his name to Sulaiman or +Soliman under the following circumstances: "The King, a few days after, +was out of danger, but the matter was to restore him to perfect health. +Having been always in a languishing condition, and his physicians never +able to discover the cause of his distemper, he suspected that their +ignorance retarded his recovery, and two or three of them were therefore +ill treated. At length the other physicians, fearing it might be their own +turn next, bethought themselves, that Persia being at the same time +afflicted with a scarcity of provisions and the King's sickness, the fault +must be in the astrologers, who had not chosen a favourable hour when the +King was set upon the throne, and therefore persuaded him that the +ceremony must be perform'd again, and he change his name in a more lucky +minute. The King and his council approving of their notion, the physicians +and astrologers together expected the first unfortunate day, which, +according to their superstition, was to be followed in the evening by a +propitious hour. Among the Gavres, or original Persians, Worshippers of +Fire, there are some who boast their descent from the Rustans, who +formerly reigned over Persia and Parthia. On the morning of the aforesaid +unlucky day, they took one of these Gavres of that Blood-royal, and having +plac'd him on the throne, with his back against a figure that represented +him to the life, all the great men of the court came to attend him, as if +he had been their king, performing all that he commanded. This scene +lasted till the favourable hour, which was a little before sun-setting, +and then an officer of the court came behind and cut off the head of the +wooden statue with his cymiter, the Gaure then starting up and running +away. That very moment the King came into the hall, and the Sofy's cap +being set on his head, and his sword girt to his side, he sat down on the +throne, changing his name for that of Soliman, which was perform'd with +the usual ceremonies, the drums beating and trumpets sounding as before. +It was requisite to act this farce, in order to satisfy the law, which +requires that in order to change his name and take possession of the +throne again he must expel a prince that had usurped it upon some +pretensions; and therefore they made choice of a Gaure, who pretended to +be descended from the ancient kings of Persia, and was besides of a +different religion from that of the government."(426) + + + + + +CHAPTER VI. SACRIFICE OF THE KING'S SON. + + +(M127) A point to notice about the temporary kings described in the +foregoing chapter is that in two places (Cambodia and Jambi) they come of +a stock which is believed to be akin to the royal family. If the view here +taken of the origin of these temporary kingships is correct, we can easily +understand why the king's substitute should sometimes be of the same race +as the king. When the king first succeeded in getting the life of another +accepted as a sacrifice instead of his own, he would have to shew that the +death of that other would serve the purpose quite as well as his own would +have done. Now it was as a god or demigod that the king had to die; +therefore the substitute who died for him had to be invested, at least for +the occasion, with the divine attributes of the king. This, as we have +just seen, was certainly the case with the temporary kings of Siam and +Cambodia; they were invested with the supernatural functions, which in an +earlier stage of society were the special attributes of the king. But no +one could so well represent the king in his divine character as his son, +who might be supposed to share the divine afflatus of his father. No one, +therefore, could so appropriately die for the king and, through him, for +the whole people, as the king's son. + +(M128) According to tradition, Aun or On, King of Sweden, sacrificed nine +of his sons to Odin at Upsala in order that his own life might be spared. +After he had sacrificed his second son he received from the god an answer +that he should live so long as he gave him one of his sons every ninth +year. When he had sacrificed his seventh son, he still lived, but was so +feeble that he could not walk but had to be carried in a chair. Then he +offered up his eighth son, and lived nine years more, lying in his bed. +After that he sacrificed his ninth son, and lived another nine years, but +so that he drank out of a horn like a weaned child. He now wished to +sacrifice his only remaining son to Odin, but the Swedes would not allow +him. So he died and was buried in a mound at Upsala. The poet Thiodolf +told the king's history in verse:-- + + + "In Upsal's town the cruel king + Slaughtered his sons at Odin's shrine-- + Slaughtered his sons with cruel knife, + To get from Odin length of life. + He lived until he had to turn + His toothless mouth to the deer's horn; + And he who shed his children's blood + Sucked through the ox's horn his food. + At length fell Death has tracked him down, + Slowly but sure, in Upsal's town."(427) + + +(M129) In ancient Greece there seems to have been at least one kingly +house of great antiquity of which the eldest sons were always liable to be +sacrificed in room of their royal sires. When Xerxes was marching through +Thessaly at the head of his mighty host to attack the Spartans at +Thermopylae, he came to the town of Alus. Here he was shewn the sanctuary +of Laphystian Zeus, about which his guides told him a strange tale. It ran +somewhat as follows. Once upon a time the king of the country, by name +Athamas, married a wife Nephele, and had by her a son called Phrixus and a +daughter named Helle. Afterwards he took to himself a second wife called +Ino, by whom he had two sons, Learchus and Melicertes. But his second wife +was jealous of her step-children, Phrixus and Helle, and plotted their +death. She went about very cunningly to compass her bad end. First of all +she persuaded the women of the country to roast the seed corn secretly +before it was committed to the ground. So next year no crops came up and +the people died of famine. Then the king sent messengers to the oracle at +Delphi to enquire the cause of the dearth. But the wicked step-mother +bribed the messenger to give out as the answer of the god that the dearth +would never cease till the children of Athamas by his first wife had been +sacrificed to Zeus. When Athamas heard that, he sent for the children, who +were with the sheep. But a ram with a fleece of gold opened his lips, and +speaking with the voice of a man warned the children of their danger. So +they mounted the ram and fled with him over land and sea. As they flew +over the sea, the girl slipped from the animal's back, and falling into +water was drowned. But her brother Phrixus was brought safe to the land of +Colchis, where reigned a child of the Sun. Phrixus married the king's +daughter, and she bore him a son Cytisorus. And there he sacrificed the +ram with the golden fleece to Zeus the God of Flight; but some will have +it that he sacrificed the animal to Laphystian Zeus. The golden fleece +itself he gave to his wife's father, who nailed it to an oak tree, guarded +by a sleepless dragon in a sacred grove of Ares. Meanwhile at home an +oracle had commanded that King Athamas himself should be sacrificed as an +expiatory offering for the whole country. So the people decked him with +garlands like a victim and led him to the altar, where they were just +about to sacrifice him when he was rescued either by his grandson +Cytisorus, who arrived in the nick of time from Colchis, or by Hercules, +who brought tidings that the king's son Phrixus was yet alive. Thus +Athamas was saved, but afterwards he went mad, and mistaking his son +Learchus for a wild beast shot him dead. Next he attempted the life of his +remaining son Melicertes, but the child was rescued by his mother Ino, who +ran and threw herself and him from a high rock into the sea. Mother and +son were changed into marine divinities, and the son received special +homage in the isle of Tenedos, where babes were sacrificed to him. Thus +bereft of wife and children the unhappy Athamas quitted his country, and +on enquiring of the oracle where he should dwell was told to take up his +abode wherever he should be entertained by wild beasts. He fell in with a +pack of wolves devouring sheep, and when they saw him they fled and left +him the bleeding remnants of their prey. In this way the oracle was +fulfilled. But because King Athamas had not been sacrificed as a +sin-offering for the whole country, it was divinely decreed that the +eldest male scion of his family in each generation should be sacrificed +without fail, if ever he set foot in the town-hall, where the offerings +were made to Laphystian Zeus by one of the house of Athamas. Many of the +family, Xerxes was informed, had fled to foreign lands to escape this +doom; but some of them had returned long afterwards, and being caught by +the sentinels in the act of entering the town-hall were wreathed as +victims, led forth in procession, and sacrificed.(428) These instances +appear to have been notorious, if not frequent; for the writer of a +dialogue attributed to Plato, after speaking of the immolation of human +victims by the Carthaginians, adds that such practices were not unknown +among the Greeks, and he refers with horror to the sacrifices offered on +Mount Lycaeus and by the descendants of Athamas.(429) + +(M130) The suspicion that this barbarous custom by no means fell into +disuse even in later days is strengthened by a case of human sacrifice +which occurred in Plutarch's time at Orchomenus, a very ancient city of +Boeotia, distant only a few miles across the plain from the historian's +birthplace. Here dwelt a family of which the men went by the name of +Psoloeis or "Sooty," and the women by the name of Oleae or "Destructive." +Every year at the festival of the Agrionia the priest of Dionysus pursued +these women with a drawn sword, and if he overtook one of them he had the +right to slay her. In Plutarch's lifetime the right was actually exercised +by a priest Zoilus. Now the family thus liable to furnish at least one +human victim every year was of royal descent, for they traced their +lineage to Minyas, the famous old king of Orchomenus, the monarch of +fabulous wealth, whose stately treasury, as it is called, still stands in +ruins at the point where the long rocky hill of Orchomenus melts into the +vast level expanse of the Copaic plain. Tradition ran that the king's +three daughters long despised the other women of the country for yielding +to the Bacchic frenzy, and sat at home in the king's house scornfully +plying the distaff and the loom, while the rest, wreathed with flowers, +their dishevelled locks streaming to the wind, roamed in ecstasy the +barren mountains that rise above Orchomenus, making the solitude of the +hills to echo to the wild music of cymbals and tambourines. But in time +the divine fury infected even the royal damsels in their quiet chamber; +they were seized with a fierce longing to partake of human flesh, and cast +lots among themselves which should give up her child to furnish a cannibal +feast. The lot fell on Leucippe, and she surrendered her son Hippasus, who +was torn limb from limb by the three. From these misguided women sprang +the Oleae and the Psoloeis, of whom the men were said to be so called +because they wore sad-coloured raiment in token of their mourning and +grief.(430) + +(M131) Now this practice of taking human victims from a family of royal +descent at Orchomenus is all the more significant because Athamas himself +is said to have reigned in the land of Orchomenus even before the time of +Minyas, and because over against the city there rises Mount Laphystius, on +which, as at Alus in Thessaly, there was a sanctuary of Laphystian Zeus, +where, according to tradition, Athamas purposed to sacrifice his two +children Phrixus and Helle.(431) On the whole, comparing the traditions +about Athamas with the custom that obtained with regard to his descendants +in historical times, we may fairly infer that in Thessaly and probably in +Boeotia there reigned of old a dynasty of which the kings were liable to +be sacrificed for the good of the country to the god called Laphystian +Zeus, but that they contrived to shift the fatal responsibility to their +offspring, of whom the eldest son was regularly destined to the altar. As +time went on, the cruel custom was so far mitigated that a ram was +accepted as a vicarious sacrifice in room of the royal victim, provided +always that the prince abstained from setting foot in the town-hall where +the sacrifices were offered to Laphystian Zeus by one of his kinsmen.(432) +But if he were rash enough to enter the place of doom, to thrust himself +wilfully, as it were, on the notice of the god who had good-naturedly +winked at the substitution of a ram, the ancient obligation which had been +suffered to lie in abeyance recovered all its force, and there was no help +for it but he must die. The tradition which associated the sacrifice of +the king or his children with a great dearth points clearly to the belief, +so common among primitive folk, that the king is responsible for the +weather and the crops, and that he may justly pay with his life for the +inclemency of the one or the failure of the other. Athamas and his line, +in short, appear to have united divine or magical with royal functions; +and this view is strongly supported by the claims to divinity which +Salmoneus, the brother of Athamas, is said to have set up. We have seen +that this presumptuous mortal professed to be no other than Zeus himself, +and to wield the thunder and lightning, of which he made a trumpery +imitation by the help of tinkling kettles and blazing torches.(433) If we +may judge from analogy, his mock thunder and lightning were no mere scenic +exhibition designed to deceive and impress the beholders; they were +enchantments practised by the royal magician for the purpose of bringing +about the celestial phenomena which they feebly mimicked.(434) + +(M132) Among the Semites of Western Asia the king, in a time of national +danger, sometimes gave his own son to die as a sacrifice for the people. +Thus Philo of Byblus, in his work on the Jews, says: "It was an ancient +custom in a crisis of great danger that the ruler of a city or nation +should give his beloved son to die for the whole people, as a ransom +offered to the avenging demons; and the children thus offered were slain +with mystic rites. So Cronus, whom the Phoenicians call Israel, being king +of the land and having an only-begotten son called Jeoud (for in the +Phoenician tongue Jeoud signifies 'only-begotten'), dressed him in royal +robes and sacrificed him upon an altar in a time of war, when the country +was in great danger from the enemy."(435) When the king of Moab was +besieged by the Israelites and hard beset, he took his eldest son, who +should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering on +the wall.(436) + +But amongst the Semites the practice of sacrificing their children was not +confined to kings.(437) In times of great calamity, such as pestilence, +drought, or defeat in war, the Phoenicians used to sacrifice one of their +dearest to Baal. "Phoenician history," says an ancient writer, "is full of +such sacrifices."(438) The writer of a dialogue ascribed to Plato observes +that the Carthaginians immolated human beings as if it were right and +lawful to do so, and some of them, he adds, even sacrificed their own sons +to Baal.(439) When Gelo, tyrant of Syracuse, defeated the Carthaginians in +the great battle of Himera he required as a condition of peace that they +should sacrifice their children to Baal no longer.(440) But the barbarous +custom was too inveterate and too agreeable to Semitic modes of thought to +be so easily eradicated, and the humane stipulation of the Greek despot +probably remained a dead letter. At all events the history of this +remarkable people, who combined in so high a degree the spirit of +commercial enterprise with a blind attachment to a stern and gloomy +religion, is stained in later times with instances of the same cruel +superstition. When the Carthaginians were defeated and besieged by +Agathocles, they ascribed their disasters to the wrath of Baal; for +whereas in former times they had been wont to sacrifice to him their own +offspring, they had latterly fallen into the habit of buying children and +rearing them to be victims. So, to appease the angry god, two hundred +children of the noblest families were picked out for sacrifice, and the +tale of victims was swelled by not less than three hundred more who +volunteered to die for the fatherland. They were sacrificed by being +placed, one by one, on the sloping hands of the brazen image, from which +they rolled into a pit of fire.(441) Childless people among the +Carthaginians bought children from poor parents and slaughtered them, says +Plutarch, as if they were lambs or chickens; and the mother had to stand +by and see it done without a tear or a groan, for if she wept or moaned +she lost all the credit and the child was sacrificed none the less. But +all the place in front of the image was filled with a tumultuous music of +fifes and drums to drown the shrieks of the victims.(442) Infants were +publicly sacrificed by the Carthaginians down to the proconsulate of +Tiberius, who crucified the priests on the trees beside their temples. Yet +the practice still went on secretly in the lifetime of Tertullian.(443) + +(M133) Among the Canaanites or aboriginal inhabitants of Palestine, whom +the invading Israelites conquered but did not exterminate, the grisly +custom of burning their children in honour of Baal or Moloch seems to have +been regularly practised.(444) To the best representatives of the Hebrew +people, the authors of their noble literature, such rites were abhorrent, +and they warned their fellow-countrymen against participating in them. +"When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou +shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall +not be found with thee any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass +through the fire, one that useth divination, one that practiseth augury, +or an enchanter, or a sorcerer, or a charmer, or a consulter with a +familiar spirit, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For whosoever doeth these +things is an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations +the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee."(445) Again we +read: "And thou shalt not give any of thy seed to pass through the fire to +Molech."(446) Whatever effect these warnings may have had in the earlier +days of Israelitish history, there is abundant evidence that in later +times the Hebrews lapsed, or rather perhaps relapsed, into that congenial +mire of superstition from which the higher spirits of the nation +struggled--too often in vain--to rescue them. The Psalmist laments that his +erring countrymen "mingled themselves with the nations, and learned their +works: and they served their idols; which became a snare unto them: yea, +they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto demons, and shed +innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom +they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with +blood."(447) When the Hebrew annalist has recorded how Shalmaneser, king +of Assyria, besieged Samaria for three years and took it and carried +Israel away into captivity, he explains that this was a divine punishment +inflicted on his people for having fallen in with the evil ways of the +Canaanites. They had built high places in all their cities, and set up +pillars and sacred poles (_asherim_) upon every high hill and under every +green tree; and there they burnt incense after the manner of the heathen. +"And they forsook all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made +them molten images, even two calves, and made an Asherah, and worshipped +all the host of heaven, and served Baal. And they caused their sons and +their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and +enchantments."(448) At Jerusalem in these days there was a regularly +appointed place where parents burned their children, both boys and girls, +in honour of Baal or Moloch. It was in the valley of Hinnom, just outside +the walls of the city, and bore the name, infamous ever since, of Tophet. +The practice is referred to again and again with sorrowful indignation by +the prophets.(449) The kings of Judah set an example to their people by +burning their own children at the usual place. Thus of Ahaz, who reigned +sixteen years at Jerusalem, we are told that "he burnt incense in the +valley of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire."(450) Again, King +Manasseh, whose long reign covered fifty-five years, "made his children to +pass through the fire in the valley of Hinnom."(451) Afterwards in the +reign of the good king Josiah the idolatrous excesses of the people were +repressed, at least for a time, and among other measures of reform Tophet +was defiled by the King's orders, "that no man might make his son or his +daughter to pass through the fire to Molech."(452) Whether the place was +ever used again for the same dark purpose as before does not appear. Long +afterwards, under the sway of a milder faith, there was little in the +valley to recall the tragic scenes which it had so often witnessed. Jerome +describes it as a pleasant and shady spot, watered by the rills of Siloam +and laid out in delightful gardens.(453) + +(M134) It would be interesting, though it might be fruitless, to enquire +how far the Hebrew prophets and psalmists were right in their opinion that +the Israelites learned these and other gloomy superstitions only through +contact with the old inhabitants of the land, that the primitive purity of +faith and morals which they brought with them from the free air of the +desert was tainted and polluted by the grossness and corruption of the +heathen in the fat land of Canaan. When we remember, however, that the +Israelites were of the same Semitic stock as the population they conquered +and professed to despise,(454) and that the practice of human sacrifice is +attested for many branches of the Semitic race, we shall, perhaps, incline +to surmise that the chosen people may have brought with them into +Palestine the seeds which afterwards sprang up and bore such ghastly fruit +in the valley of Hinnom. It is at least significant of the prevalence of +such customs among the Semites that no sooner were the native +child-burning Israelites carried off by King Shalmaneser to Assyria than +their place was taken by colonists who practised precisely the same rites +in honour of deities who probably differed in little but name from those +revered by the idolatrous Hebrews. "The Sepharvites," we are told, "burnt +their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of +Sepharvaim."(455) The pious Jewish historian, who saw in Israel's exile +God's punishment for sin, has suggested no explanation of that mystery in +the divine economy which suffered the Sepharvites to continue on the same +spot the very same abominations for which the erring Hebrews had just been +so signally chastised. + +(M135) We have still to ask which of their children the Semites picked out +for sacrifice; for that a choice was made and some principle of selection +followed, may be taken for granted. A people who burned all their children +indiscriminately would soon extinguish themselves, and such an excess of +piety is probably rare, if not unknown. In point of fact it seems, at +least among the Hebrews, to have been only the firstborn child that was +doomed to the flames. The prophet Micah asks, in a familiar passage, +"Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high +God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year +old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten +thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my +transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" These were +the questions which pious and doubting hearts were putting to themselves +in the days of the prophet. The prophet's own answer is not doubtful. "He +hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of +thee, but to do justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy +God?"(456) It is a noble answer and one which only elect spirits in that +or, perhaps, in any age have given. In Israel the vulgar answer was given +on bloody altars and in the smoke and flames of Tophet, and the form in +which the prophet's question is cast--"Shall I give my firstborn for my +transgression?"--shews plainly on which of the children the duty of atoning +for the sins of their father was supposed to fall. A passage in Ezekiel +points no less clearly to the same conclusion. The prophet represents God +as saying, "I gave them statutes that were not good, and judgments wherein +they should not live; and I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they +caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might +make them desolate." That the writer was here thinking specially of the +sacrifice of children is proved by his own words a little later on. "When +ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, do +ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, unto this day?"(457) Further, +that by the words "to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb" he +referred only to the firstborn can easily be shewn by the language of +Scripture in reference to that law of the consecration of firstlings which +Ezekiel undoubtedly had in his mind when he wrote this passage. Thus we +find that law enunciated in the following terms: "And the Lord spake unto +Moses, saying, Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the +womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is +mine."(458) Again, it is written: "Thou shalt set apart unto the Lord all +that openeth the womb, and every firstling which thou hast that cometh of +a beast; the males shall be the Lord's."(459) Once more: "All that openeth +the womb is mine; and all thy cattle that is male, the firstlings of ox +and sheep."(460) This ancient Hebrew custom of the consecration to God of +all male firstlings, whether of man or beast, was merely the application +to the animal kingdom of the law that all first fruits whatsoever belong +to the deity and must be made over to him or his representatives. That +general law is thus stated by the Hebrew legislator: "Thou shalt not delay +to offer of the abundance of thy fruits, and of thy liquors. The firstborn +of thy sons shalt thou give unto me. Likewise shalt thou do with thine +oxen, and with thy sheep: seven days it shall be with its dam; and on the +eighth day thou shalt give it me."(461) + +(M136) Thus the god of the Hebrews plainly regarded the first-born of men +and the firstlings of animals as his own, and required that they should be +made over to him. But how? Here a distinction was drawn between sheep, +oxen, and goats on the one hand and men and asses on the other; the +firstlings of the former were always sacrificed, the firstlings of the +latter were generally redeemed. "The firstling of an ox, or the firstling +of a sheep, or the firstling of a goat, thou shalt not redeem; they are +holy: thou shalt sprinkle their blood upon the altar, and shalt burn their +fat for an offering made by fire for a sweet savour unto the Lord." The +flesh went to the Levites,(462) who consumed it, no doubt, instead of the +deity whom they represented. On the other hand, the ass was not sacrificed +by the Israelites, probably because they did not eat the animal +themselves, and hence concluded that God did not do so either. In the +matter of diet the taste of gods generally presents a striking resemblance +to that of their worshippers. Still the firstling ass, like all other +firstlings, was sacred to the deity, and since it was not sacrificed to +him, he had to receive an equivalent for it. In other words, the ass had +to be redeemed, and the price of the redemption was a lamb which was burnt +as a vicarious sacrifice instead of the ass, on the hypothesis, +apparently, that roast lamb is likely to be more palatable to the Supreme +Being than roast donkey. If the ass was not redeemed, it had to be killed +by having its neck broken.(463) The firstlings of other unclean animals +and of men were redeemed for five shekels a head, which were paid to the +Levites.(464) + +(M137) We can now readily understand why so many of the Hebrews, at least +in the later days of their history, sacrificed their firstborn children, +and why tender-hearted parents, whose affection for their offspring +exceeded their devotion to the deity, may often have been visited with +compunction, and even tormented with feelings of bitter self-reproach and +shame at their carnal weakness in suffering the beloved son to live, when +they saw others, with an heroic piety which they could not emulate, calmly +resigning their dear ones to the fire, through which, as they firmly +believed, they passed to God, to reap, perhaps, in endless bliss in heaven +the reward of their sharp but transient sufferings on earth. From infancy +they had been bred up in the belief that the firstborn was sacred to God, +and though they knew that he had waived his right to them in consideration +of the receipt of five shekels a head, they could, hardly view this as +anything but an act of gracious condescension, of generous liberality on +the part of the divinity who had stooped to accept so trifling a sum +instead of the life which really belonged to him. "Surely," they might +argue, "God would be better pleased if we were to give him not the money +but the life, not the poor paltry shekels, but what we value most, our +first and best-loved child. If we hold that life so dear, will not he +also? It is his. Why should we not give him his own?" It was in answer to +anxious questions such as these, and to quite truly conscientious scruples +of this sort that the prophet Micah declared that what God required of his +true worshippers was not sacrifice but justice and mercy and humility. It +is the answer of morality to religion--of the growing consciousness that +man's duty is not to propitiate with vain oblations those mysterious +powers of the universe of which he can know little or nothing, but to be +just and merciful in his dealings with his fellows and to humbly trust, +though he cannot know, that by acting thus he will best please the higher +powers, whatever they may be. + +(M138) But while morality ranges itself on the side of the prophet, it may +be questioned whether history and precedent were not on the side of his +adversaries. If the firstborn of men and cattle were alike sacred to God, +and the firstborn of cattle were regularly sacrificed, while the firstborn +of men were ransomed by a money payment, has not this last provision the +appearance of being a later mitigation of an older and harsher custom +which doomed firstborn children, like firstling lambs and calves and +goats, to the altar or the fire? The suspicion is greatly strengthened by +the remarkable tradition told to account for the sanctity of the +firstborn. When Israel was in bondage in Egypt, so runs the tradition, God +resolved to deliver them from captivity, and to lead them to the Promised +Land. But the Egyptians were loth to part with their bondmen and thwarted +the divine purpose by refusing to let the Israelites go. Accordingly God +afflicted these cruel taskmasters with one plague after another, but all +in vain, until at last he made up his mind to resort to a strong measure, +which would surely have the desired effect. At dead of night he would pass +through the land killing all the firstborn of the Egyptians, both man and +beast; not one of them would be left alive in the morning. But the +Israelites were warned of what was about to happen and told to keep +indoors that night, and to put a mark on their houses, so that when he +passed down the street on his errand of slaughter, God might know them at +sight from the houses of the Egyptians and not turn in and massacre the +wrong children and animals. The mark was to be the blood of a lamb smeared +on the lintel and side posts of the door. In every house the lamb, whose +red blood was to be the badge of Israel that night, as the white scarves +were the badge of the Catholics on the night of St. Bartholomew, was to be +killed at evening and eaten by the household, with very peculiar rites, +during the hours of darkness while the butchery was proceeding: none of +the flesh was to see the morning light: whatever the family could not eat +was to be burned with fire. All this was done. The massacre of Egyptian +children and animals was successfully perpetrated and had the desired +effect; and to commemorate this great triumph God ordained that all the +firstborn of man and beast among the Israelites should be sacred to him +ever afterwards in the manner already described, the edible animals to be +sacrificed, and the uneatable, especially men and asses, to be ransomed by +a substitute or by a pecuniary payment of so much a head. And a festival +was to be celebrated every spring with rites exactly like those which were +observed on the night of the great slaughter. The divine command was +obeyed, and the festival thus instituted was the Passover.(465) + +(M139) The one thing that looms clear through the haze of this weird +tradition is the memory of a great massacre of firstborn. This was the +origin, we are told, both of the sanctity of the firstborn and of the +feast of the Passover. But when we are further told that the people whose +firstborn were slaughtered on that occasion were not the Hebrews but their +enemies, we are at once met by serious difficulties. Why, we may ask, +should the Israelites kill the firstlings of their cattle for ever because +God once killed those of the Egyptians? and why should every Hebrew father +have to pay God a ransom for his firstborn child because God once slew all +the firstborn children of the Egyptians? In this form the tradition offers +no intelligible explanation of the custom. But it at once becomes clear +and intelligible when we assume that in the original version of the story +it was the Hebrew firstborn that were slain; that in fact the slaughter of +the firstborn children was formerly, what the slaughter of the firstborn +cattle always continued to be, not an isolated butchery but a regular +custom, which with the growth of more humane sentiments was afterwards +softened into the vicarious sacrifice of a lamb and the payment of a +ransom for each child. Here the reader may be reminded of another Hebrew +tradition in which the sacrifice of the firstborn child is indicated still +more clearly. Abraham, we are informed, was commanded by God to offer up +his firstborn son Isaac as a burnt sacrifice, and was on the point of +obeying the divine command, when God, content with this proof of his faith +and obedience, substituted for the human victim a ram, which Abraham +accordingly sacrificed instead of his son.(466) Putting the two traditions +together and observing how exactly they dovetail into each other and into +the later Hebrew practice of actually sacrificing the firstborn children +by fire to Baal or Moloch, we can hardly resist the conclusion that, +before the practice of redeeming them was introduced, the Hebrews, like +the other branches of the Semitic race, regularly sacrificed their +firstborn children by the fire or the knife. The Passover, if this view is +right, was the occasion when the awful sacrifice was offered; and the +tradition of its origin has preserved in its main outlines a vivid memory +of the horrors of these fearful nights. They must have been like the +nights called Evil on the west coast of Africa, when the people kept +indoors, because the executioners were going about the streets and the +heads of the human victims were falling in the king's palace.(467) But +seen in the lurid light of superstition or of legend they were no common +mortals, no vulgar executioners, who did the dreadful work at the first +Passover. The Angel of Death was abroad that night; into every house he +entered, and a sound of lamentation followed him as he came forth with his +dripping sword. The blood that bespattered the lintel and door-posts would +at first be the blood of the firstborn child of the house; and when the +blood of a lamb was afterwards substituted, we may suppose that it was +intended not so much to appease as to cheat the ghastly visitant. Seeing +the red drops in the doorway he would say to himself, "That is the blood +of their child. I need not turn in there. I have many yet to slay before +the morning breaks grey in the east." And he would pass on in haste. And +the trembling parents, as they clasped their little one to their breast, +might fancy that they heard his footfalls growing fainter and fainter down +the street. In plain words, we may surmise that the slaughter was +originally done by masked men, like the Mumbo Jumbos and similar figures +of west Africa, who went from house to house and were believed by the +uninitiated to be the deity or his divine messengers come in person to +carry off the victims. When the leaders had decided to allow the sacrifice +of animals instead of children, they would give the people a hint that if +they only killed a lamb and smeared its blood on the door-posts, the +bloodthirsty but near-sighted deity would never know the difference. + +(M140) The attempt to outwit a malignant and dangerous spirit is common, +and might be illustrated by many examples. Some instances will be noticed +in a later part of this work. Here a single one may suffice. The Malays +believe in a Spectral Huntsman, who ranges the forest with a pack of +ghostly dogs, and whose apparition bodes sickness or death. Certain birds +which fly in flocks by night uttering a loud and peculiar note are +supposed to follow in his train. Hence when Perak peasants hear the weird +sound, they run out and make a clatter with a knife on a wooden platter, +crying, "Great-grandfather, bring us their hearts!" The Spectral Huntsman, +hearing these words, will take the supplicants for followers of his own +asking to share his bag. So he will spare the household and pass on, and +the tumult of the wild hunt will die away in the darkness and the +distance.(468) + +(M141) If this be indeed the origin of the Passover and of the sanctity of +the firstborn among the Hebrews, the whole of the Semitic evidence on the +subject is seen to fall into line at once. The children whom the +Carthaginians, Phoenicians, Canaanites, Moabites, Sepharvites, and +probably other branches of the Semitic race burnt in the fire would be +their firstborn only, although in general ancient writers have failed to +indicate this limitation of the custom. For the Moabites, indeed, the +limitation is clearly indicated, if not expressly stated, when we read +that the king of Moab offered his eldest son, who should have reigned +after him, as a burnt sacrifice on the wall.(469) For the Phoenicians it +comes out less distinctly in the statement of Porphyry that the +Phoenicians used to sacrifice one of their dearest to Baal, and in the +legend recorded by Philo of Byblus that Cronus sacrificed his +only-begotten son.(470) We may suppose that the custom of sacrificing the +firstborn both of men and animals was a very ancient Semitic institution, +which many branches of the race kept up within historical times; but that +the Hebrews, while they maintained the custom in regard to domestic +cattle, were led by their loftier morality to discard it in respect of +children, and to replace it by a merciful law that firstborn children +should be ransomed instead of sacrificed.(471) + +(M142) The conclusion that the Hebrew custom of redeeming the firstborn is +a modification of an older custom of sacrificing them has been mentioned +by some very distinguished scholars only to be rejected on the ground, +apparently, of its extreme improbability.(472) To me the converging lines +of evidence which point to this conclusion seem too numerous and too +distinct to be thus lightly brushed aside. And the argument from +improbability can easily be rebutted by pointing to other peoples who are +known to have practised or to be still practising a custom of the same +sort. In some tribes of New South Wales the firstborn child of every woman +was eaten by the tribe as part of a religious ceremony.(473) Among the +aborigines on the lower portions of the Paroo and Warrego rivers, which +join the Darling River in New South Wales, girls used to become wives when +they were mere children and to be mothers at fourteen, and the old custom +was to kill the firstborn child by strangulation.(474) Again, among the +tribes about Maryborough in Queensland a girl's first child was almost +always exposed and left to perish.(475) In the tribes about Beltana, in +South Australia, girls were married at fourteen, and it was customary to +destroy their firstborn.(476) The natives of Rook, an island off the east +coast of New Guinea, used to kill all their firstborn children; they +prided themselves on their humanity in burying the murdered infants +instead of eating them as their barbarous neighbours did. They spared the +second child but killed the third, and so on alternately with the rest of +their offspring.(477) Chinese history reports that in a state called +Khai-muh, to the east of Yueh, it was customary to devour the firstborn +sons,(478) and further, that to the west of Kiao-chi or Tonquin "there was +a realm of man-eaters, where the firstborn son was, as a rule, chopped +into pieces and eaten, and his younger brothers were nevertheless regarded +to have fulfilled their fraternal duties towards him. And if he proved to +be appetizing food, they sent some of his flesh to their chieftains, who, +exhilarated, gave the father a reward."(479) In India, down to the +beginning of the nineteenth century, the custom of sacrificing a firstborn +child to the Ganges was common.(480) Again, we are told that among the +Hindoos "the firstborn has always held a peculiarly sacred position, +especially if born in answer to a vow to parents who have long been +without offspring, in which case sacrifice of the child was common in +India. The Mairs used to sacrifice a firstborn son to Mata, the small-pox +goddess."(481) + +(M143) The Borans, on the southern borders of Abyssinia, propitiate a +sky-spirit called Wak by sacrificing their children and cattle to him. +Among them when a man of any standing marries, he becomes a Raba, as it is +called, and for a certain period after marriage, probably four to eight +years, he must leave any children that are born to him to die in the bush. +No Boran cares to contemplate the fearful calamities with which Wak would +visit him if he failed to discharge this duty. After he ceases to be a +Raba, a man is circumcised and becomes a Gudda. The sky-spirit has no +claim on the children born after their father's circumcision, but they are +sent away at a very early age to be reared by the Wata, a low caste of +hunters. They remain with these people till they are grown up, and then +return to their families.(482) In this remarkable custom it would appear +that the circumcision of the father is regarded as an atoning sacrifice +which redeems the rest of his children from the spirit to whom they would +otherwise belong. The obscure story told by the Israelites to explain the +origin of circumcision seems also to suggest that the custom was supposed +to save the life of the child by giving the deity a substitute for +it.(483) Again, the Kerre, Banna, and Bashada, three tribes in the valley +of the Omo River, to the south of Abyssinia, are in the habit of +strangling their firstborn children and throwing the bodies away. The +Kerre cast the bodies into the river Omo, where they are devoured by +crocodiles; the other two tribes leave them in the forest to be eaten by +the hyaenas. The only explanation they give of the custom is that it was +decreed by their ancestors. Captain C. H. Stigand enquired into the +practice very carefully and was told that "for a certain number of years +after marriage children would be thrown away, and after that they would be +kept. The number of the first children who were strangled, and the period +of years during which this was done, appears to be variable, but I could +not understand what regulated it. There was one point, however, about +which they were certain, and that was that the first-born of all, rich, +poor, high and low, had to be strangled and thrown away. The chief of the +Kerre said, 'If I had a child now, it would have to be thrown away,' +laughing as if it were a great joke. What amused him really was that I +should be so interested in their custom." So far as Captain Stigand could +ascertain, there is no idea of sacrificing the children to the crocodiles +by throwing them into the river. If a Kerre man has a first child born to +him while he is on a journey away from the river, he will throw the infant +away in the forest.(484) In Uganda if the firstborn child of a chief or +any important person is a son, the midwife strangles it and reports that +the infant was still-born. "This is done to ensure the life of the father; +if he has a son born first he will soon die, and the child inherit all he +has."(485) Amongst the people of Senjero in eastern Africa we are told +that many families must offer up their firstborn sons as sacrifices, +because once upon a time, when summer and winter were jumbled together in +a bad season, and the fruits of the earth would not ripen, the soothsayers +enjoined it. At that time a great pillar of iron is said to have stood at +the entrance of the capital, which in accordance with the advice of the +soothsayers was broken down by order of the king, whereupon the seasons +became regular again. To avert the recurrence of such a calamity the +wizards commanded the king to pour human blood once a year on the base of +the broken shaft of the pillar, and also upon the throne. Since then +certain families have been obliged to deliver up their firstborn sons, who +were sacrificed at an appointed time.(486) Among some tribes of +south-eastern Africa there is a rule that when a woman's husband has been +killed in battle and she marries again, the first child she gives birth to +after her second marriage must be put to death, whether she has it by her +first or her second husband. Such a child is called "the child of the +assegai," and if it were not killed, death or an accident would be sure to +befall the second spouse, and the woman herself would be barren. The +notion is that the woman must have had some share in the misfortune that +overtook her first husband, and that the only way of removing the malign +influence is to slay "the child of the assegai."(487) + +(M144) The heathen Russians often sacrificed their firstborn to the god +Perun.(488) It is said that on Mag Slacht or "plain of prostrations," near +the present village of Ballymagauran, in the County Cavan, there used to +stand a great idol called Cromm Cruach, covered with gold, to which the +ancient Irish sacrificed "the firstlings of every issue and the chief +scions of every clan" in order to obtain plenty of corn, honey, and milk. +Round about the golden image, which was spoken of as the king idol of +Erin, stood twelve other idols of stone.(489) The Kutonaqa Indians of +British Columbia worship the sun and sacrifice their firstborn children to +him. When a woman is with child she prays to the sun, saying, "I am with +child. When it is born I shall offer it to you. Have pity upon us." Thus +they expect to secure health and good fortune for their families.(490) +Among the Coast Salish Indians of the same region the first child is often +sacrificed to the sun in order to ensure the health and prosperity of the +whole family.(491) The Indians of Florida sacrificed their firstborn male +children.(492) Among the Indians of north Carolina down to the early part +of the eighteenth century a remarkable ceremony was performed, which seems +to be most naturally interpreted as a modification of an older custom of +putting the king's son to death, perhaps as a substitute for his father. +It is thus described by a writer of that period: "They have a strange +custom or ceremony amongst them, to call to mind the persecutions and +death of the kings their ancestors slain by their enemies at certain +seasons, and particularly when the savages have been at war with any +nation, and return from their country without bringing home some prisoners +of war, or the heads of their enemies. The king causes as a perpetual +remembrance of all his predecessors to beat and wound the best beloved of +all his children with the same weapons wherewith they had been kill'd in +former times, to the end that by renewing the wound, their death should be +lamented afresh. The king and his nation being assembled on these +occasions, a feast is prepared, and the Indian who is authorised to wound +the king's son, runs about the house like a distracted person crying and +making a most hideous noise all the time with the weapon in his hand, +wherewith he wounds the king's son; this he performs three several times, +during which interval he presents the king with victuals or _cassena_, and +it is very strange to see the Indian that is thus struck never offers to +stir till he is wounded the third time, after which he falls down +backwards stretching out his arms and legs as if he had been ready to +expire; then the rest of the king's sons and daughters, together with the +mother and vast numbers of women and girls, fall at his feet and lament +and cry most bitterly. During this time the king and his retinue are +feasting, yet with such profound silence for some hours, that not one word +or even a whisper is to be heard amongst them. After this manner they +continue till night, which ends in singing, dancing, and the greatest joy +imaginable."(493) In this account the description of the frantic manner +assumed by the person whose duty it was to wound the king's son reminds us +of the frenzy of King Athamas when he took or attempted the lives of his +children.(494) The same feature is said to have characterised the +sacrifice of children in Peru. "When any person of note was sick and the +priest said he must die, they sacrificed his son, desiring the idol to be +satisfied with him and not to take away his father's life. The ceremonies +used at these sacrifices were strange, for they behaved themselves like +mad men. They believed that all calamities were occasioned by sin, and +that sacrifices were the remedy."(495) An early Spanish historian of the +conquest of Peru, in describing the Indians of the Peruvian valleys +between San-Miguel and Caxamalca, records that "they have disgusting +sacrifices and temples of idols which they hold in great veneration; they +offer them their most precious possessions. Every month they sacrifice +their own children and smear with the blood of the victims the face of the +idols and the doors of the temples."(496) In Puruha, a province of Quito, +it used to be customary to sacrifice the firstborn children to the gods. +Their remains were dried, enclosed in vessels of metal or stone, and kept +in the houses.(497) The Ximanas and Cauxanas, two Indian tribes in the +upper valley of the Amazon, kill all their firstborn children.(498) If the +firstborn is a girl, the Lengua Indians invariably put it to death.(499) + +(M145) Among the ancient Italian peoples, especially of the Sabine stock, +it was customary in seasons of great peril or public calamity, as when the +crops had failed or a pestilence was raging, to vow that they would +sacrifice to the gods every creature, whether man or beast, that should be +born in the following spring. To the creatures thus devoted to sacrifice +the name of "the sacred spring" was applied. "But since," says Festus, "it +seemed cruel to slay innocent boys and girls, they were kept till they had +grown up, then veiled and driven beyond the boundaries."(500) Several +Italian peoples, for example the Piceni, Samnites, and Hirpini, traced +their origin to a "sacred spring," that is, to the consecrated youth who +had swarmed off from the parent stock in consequence of such a vow.(501) +When the Romans were engaged in a life-and-death struggle with Hannibal +after their great defeat at the Trasimene Lake, they vowed to offer a +"sacred spring" if victory should attend their arms and the commonwealth +should retrieve its shattered fortunes. But the vow extended only to all +the offspring of sheep, goats, oxen, and swine that should be brought +forth on Italian mountains, plains, and meadows the following spring.(502) +On a later occasion, when the Romans pledged themselves again by a similar +vow, it was decided that by the "sacred spring" should be meant all the +cattle born between the first day of March and the last day of April.(503) +Although in later times the Italian peoples appear to have resorted to +measures of this sort only in special emergencies, there was a tradition +that in former times the consecration of the firstborn to the gods had +been an annual custom.(504) Accordingly, it seems not impossible that +originally the Italians may, like the Hebrews and perhaps the Semites in +general, have been in the habit of dedicating all the firstborn, whether +of man or beast, and sacrificing them at a great festival in spring.(505) +The custom of the "sacred spring" was not confined to the Italians, but +was practised by many other peoples, both Greeks and barbarians, in +antiquity.(506) + +(M146) Thus it would seem that a custom of putting to death all firstborn +children has prevailed in many parts of the world. What was the motive +which led people to practise a custom which to us seems at once so cruel +and so foolish? It cannot have been the purely prudential consideration of +adjusting the numbers of the tribe to the amount of the food-supply; for, +in the first place, savages do not take such thought for the morrow,(507) +and, in the second place, if they did, they would be likely to kill the +later born children rather than the firstborn. The foregoing evidence +suggests that the custom may have been practised by different peoples from +different motives. With the Semites, the Italians, and their near kinsmen +the Irish the sacrifice or at least the consecration of the firstborn +seems to have been viewed as a tribute paid to the gods, who were thus +content to receive a part though they might justly have claimed the whole. +In some cases the death of the child appears to be definitely regarded as +a substitute for the death of the father, who obtains a new lease of life +by the sacrifice of his offspring. This comes out clearly in the tradition +of Aun, King of Sweden, who sacrificed one of his sons every nine years to +Odin in order to prolong his own life.(508) And in Peru also the son died +that the father might live.(509) But in some cases it would seem that the +child has been killed, not so much as a substitute for the father, as +because it is supposed to endanger his life by absorbing his spiritual +essence or vital energy. In fact, a belief in the transmigration or +rebirth of souls has operated to produce a regular custom of infanticide, +especially infanticide of the firstborn. At Whydah, on the Slave coast of +West Africa, where the doctrine of reincarnation is firmly held, it has +happened that a child has been put to death because the fetish doctors +declared it to be the king's father come to life again. The king naturally +could not submit to be pushed from the throne by his predecessor in this +fashion; so he compelled his supposed parent to return to the world of the +dead from which he had very inopportunely effected his escape.(510) The +Hindoos are of opinion that a man is literally reborn in the person of his +son. Thus in the _Laws of Manu_ we read that "the husband, after +conception by his wife, becomes an embryo and is born again of her; for +that is the wifehood of a wife, that he is born again by her."(511) Hence +after the birth of a son the father is clearly in a very delicate +position. Since he is his own son, can he himself, apart from his son, be +said to exist? Does he not rather die in his own person as soon as he +comes to life in the person of his son? This appears to be the opinion of +the subtle Hindoo, for in some sections of the Khatris, a mercantile caste +of the Punjaub, funeral rites are actually performed for the father in the +fifth month of his wife's pregnancy. But apparently he is allowed, by a +sort of legal fiction, to come to life again in his own person; for after +the birth of his first son he is formally remarried to his wife, which may +be regarded as a tacit admission that in the eye of the law at least he is +alive.(512) + +(M147) Now to people who thus conceive the relation of father and son it +is plain that fatherhood must appear a very dubious privilege; for if you +die in begetting a son, can you be quite sure of coming to life again? His +existence is at the best a menace to yours, and at the worst it may +involve your extinction. The danger seems to lie especially in the birth +of your first son; if only you can tide that over, you are, humanly +speaking, safe. In fact, it comes to this, Are you to live? or is he? It +is a painful dilemma. Parental affection urges you to die that he may +live. Self-love whispers, "Live and let him die. You are in the flower of +your age. You adorn the circle in which you move. You are useful, nay, +indispensable, to society. He is a mere babe. He never will be missed." +Such a train of thought, preposterous as it seems to us, might easily lead +to a custom of killing the firstborn.(513) + +(M148) Further, the same notion of the rebirth of the father in his eldest +son would explain the remarkable rule of succession which prevailed in +Polynesia and particularly in Tahiti, where as soon as the king had a son +born to him he was obliged to abdicate the throne in favour of the infant. +Whatever might be the king's age, his influence in the state, or the +political situation of affairs, no sooner was the child born than the +monarch became a subject: the infant was at once proclaimed the sovereign +of the people: the royal name was conferred upon him, and his father was +the first to do him homage, by saluting his feet and declaring him king. +All matters, however, of importance which concerned either the internal +welfare or the foreign relations of the country continued to be transacted +by the father and his councillors; but every edict was issued in the name +and on the behalf of the youthful monarch, and though the whole of the +executive government might remain in the hands of the father, he only +acted as regent for his son, and was regarded as such by the nation. The +lands and other sources of revenue were appropriated to the maintenance of +the infant ruler, his household, and his attendants; the insignia of royal +authority were transferred to him, and his father rendered him all those +marks of humble respect which he had hitherto exacted from his subjects. +This custom of succession was not confined to the family of the sovereign, +it extended also to the nobles and the landed gentry; they, too, had to +resign their rank, honours, and possessions on the birth of a son. A man +who but yesterday was a baron, not to be approached by his inferiors till +they had ceremoniously bared the whole of the upper part of their bodies, +was to-day reduced to the rank of a mere commoner with none to do him +reverence, if in the night time his wife had given birth to a son, and the +child had been suffered to live. The father indeed still continued to +administer the estate, but he did so for the benefit of the infant, to +whom it now belonged, and to whom all the marks of respect were at once +transferred.(514) + +(M149) This singular usage becomes intelligible if the spirit of the +father was supposed to quit him at the birth of his first son and to +reappear in the infant. Such a belief and such a practice would, it is +obvious, supply a powerful motive to infanticide, since a father could not +rear his firstborn son without thereby relinquishing the honours and +possessions to which he had been accustomed. The sacrifice was a heavy +one, and we need not wonder if many men refused to make it. Certainly +infanticide was practised in Polynesia to an extraordinary extent. The +first missionaries estimated that not less than two-thirds of the children +were murdered by their parents, and this estimate has been confirmed by a +careful enquirer. It would seem that before the introduction of +Christianity there was not a single mother in the islands who was not also +a murderess, having imbrued her hands in the blood of her offspring. Three +native women, the eldest not more than forty years of age, happened once +to be in a room where the conversation turned on infanticide, and they +confessed to having destroyed not less than twenty-one infants between +them.(515) It would doubtless be a gross mistake to lay the whole blame of +these massacres on the doctrine of reincarnation, but we can hardly doubt +that it instigated a great many. Once more we perceive the fatal +consequences that may flow in practice from a theoretical error. + +(M150) In some places the abdication of the father does not take place +until the son is grown up. This was the general practice in Fiji.(516) In +Raratonga as soon as a son reached manhood, he would fight and wrestle +with his father for the mastery, and if he obtained it he would take +forcible possession of the farm and drive his parent in destitution from +home.(517) Among the Corannas of South Africa the youthful son of a chief +is hardly allowed to walk, but has to idle away his time in the hut and to +drink much milk in order that he may grow strong. When he has attained to +manhood his father produces two short, bullet-headed sticks and presents +one to his son, while he keeps the other for himself. Armed with these +weapons the two often fight, and when the son succeeds in knocking his +parent down he is acknowledged chief of the kraal.(518) But such customs +probably do not imply the theory of rebirth; they may only be applications +of the principle that might is right. Still they would equally supply the +father with a motive for killing the infant son who, if suffered to live, +would one day strip him of his rank and possessions. + +(M151) Perhaps customs of this sort have left traces of themselves in +Greek myth and legend. Cronus or Saturn, as the Romans called him, is said +to have been the youngest son of the sky-god Uranus, and to have mutilated +his father and reigned in his stead as king of gods and men. Afterwards he +was warned by an oracle that he himself should be deposed by his son. To +prevent that catastrophe Cronus swallowed his children, one after the +other, as soon as they were born. Only the youngest of them, Zeus, was +saved through a trick of his mother's, and in time he fulfilled the oracle +by banishing his father and sitting on his throne. But Zeus in his turn +was told that his wife Metis would give birth to a son who would supplant +him in the kingdom of heaven. Accordingly, to rid himself of his future +rival he resorted to a device like that which his father Cronus had +employed for a similar purpose. Only instead of waiting till the child was +born and then devouring it, he made assurance doubly sure by swallowing +his wife with the unborn babe in her womb.(519) Such barbarous myths +become intelligible if we suppose that they took their rise among people +who were accustomed to see grown-up sons supplanting their fathers by +force, and fathers murdering and perhaps eating their infants in order to +secure themselves against their future rivalry. We have met with instances +of savage tribes who are said to devour their firstborn children.(520) + +(M152) The legend that Laius, king of Thebes, exposed his infant son +Oedipus, who afterwards slew his father and sat on the throne, may well be +a reminiscence of a state of things in which father and son regularly +plotted against each other. The other feature of the story, to wit the +marriage of Oedipus with the widowed queen, his mother, fits in very well +with the rule which has prevailed in some countries that a valid title to +the throne is conferred by marriage with the late king's widow. That +custom probably arose, as I have endeavoured to shew,(521) in an age when +the blood-royal ran in the female line, and when the king was a man of +another family, often a stranger and foreigner, who reigned only in virtue +of being the consort of a native princess, and whose sons never succeeded +him on the throne. But in process of time, when fathers had ceased to +regard the birth of a son as a menace to their life, or at least to their +regal power, kings would naturally scheme to secure the succession for +their own male offspring, and this new practice could be reconciled with +the old one by marrying the king's son either to his own sister or, after +his father's decease, to his stepmother. We have seen marriage with a +stepmother actually enjoined for this very purpose by some of the Saxon +kings.(522) And on this hypothesis we can understand why the custom of +marriage with a full or a half sister has prevailed in so many royal +families.(523) It was introduced, we may suppose, for the purpose of +giving the king's son the right of succession hitherto enjoyed, under a +system of female kinship, either by the son of the king's sister or by the +husband of the king's daughter; for under the new rule the heir to the +throne united both these characters, being at once the son of the king's +sister and, through marriage with his own sister, the husband of the +king's daughter. Thus the custom of brother and sister marriage in royal +houses marks a transition from female to male descent of the crown.(524) +In this connexion it may be significant that Cronus and Zeus themselves +married their full sisters Rhea and Hera, a tradition which naturally +proved a stone of stumbling to generations who had forgotten the ancient +rule of policy which dictated such incestuous unions, and who had so far +inverted the true relations of gods and men as to expect their deities to +be edifying models of the new virtues instead of warning examples of the +old vices.(525) They failed to understand that men create their gods in +their own likeness, and that when the creator is a savage, his creatures +the gods are savages also. + +(M153) With the preceding evidence before us we may safely infer that a +custom of allowing a king to kill his son, as a substitute or vicarious +sacrifice for himself, would be in no way exceptional or surprising, at +least in Semitic lands, where indeed religion seems at one time to have +recommended or enjoined every man, as a duty that he owed to his god, to +take the life of his eldest son. And it would be entirely in accordance +with analogy if, long after the barbarous custom had been dropped by +others, it continued to be observed by kings, who remain in many respects +the representatives of a vanished world, solitary pinnacles that topple +over the rising waste of waters under which the past lies buried. We have +seen that in Greece two families of royal descent remained liable to +furnish human victims from their number down to a time when the rest of +their fellow countrymen and countrywomen ran hardly more risk of being +sacrificed than passengers in Cheapside at present run of being hurried +into St. Paul's or Bow Church and immolated on the altar. A final +mitigation of the custom would be to substitute condemned criminals for +innocent victims. Such a substitution is known to have taken place in the +human sacrifices annually offered in Rhodes to Baal,(526) and we have seen +good grounds for believing that the criminal, who perished on the cross or +the gallows at Babylon, died instead of the king in whose royal robes he +had been allowed to masquerade for a few days. + + + + + +CHAPTER VII. SUCCESSION TO THE SOUL. + + +(M154) To the view that in early times, and among barbarous races, kings +have frequently been put to death at the end of a short reign, it may be +objected that such a custom would tend to the extinction of the royal +family. The objection may be met by observing, first, that the kingship is +often not confined to one family, but may be shared in turn by +several;(527) second, that the office is frequently not hereditary, but is +open to men of any family, even to foreigners, who may fulfil the +requisite conditions, such as marrying a princess or vanquishing the king +in battle;(528) and, third, that even if the custom did tend to the +extinction of a dynasty, that is not a consideration which would prevent +its observance among people less provident of the future and less heedful +of human life than ourselves. Many races, like many individuals have +indulged in practices which must in the end destroy them. Not to mention +such customs as collective suicide and the prohibition of marriage,(529) +both of which may be set down to religious mania, we have seen that the +Polynesians killed two-thirds of their children.(530) In some parts of +East Africa the proportion of infants massacred at birth is said to be the +same. Only children born in certain presentations are allowed to +live.(531) The Jagas, a conquering tribe in Angola, are reported to have +put to death all their children, without exception, in order that the +women might not be cumbered with babies on the march. They recruited their +numbers by adopting boys and girls of thirteen or fourteen years of age, +whose parents they had killed and eaten.(532) Among the Mbaya Indians of +South America the women used to murder all their children except the last, +or the one they believed to be the last. If one of them had another child +afterwards, she killed it.(533) We need not wonder that this practice +entirely destroyed a branch of the Mbaya nation, who had been for many +years the most formidable enemies of the Spaniards.(534) Among the Lengua +Indians of the Gran Chaco the missionaries discovered what they describe +as "a carefully planned system of racial suicide, by the practice of +infanticide by abortion, and other methods."(535) Nor is infanticide the +only mode in which a savage tribe commits suicide. A lavish use of the +poison ordeal may be equally effective. Some time ago a small tribe named +Uwet came down from the hill country, and settled on the left branch of +the Calabar river in West Africa. When the missionaries first visited the +place, they found the population considerable, distributed into three +villages. Since then the constant use of the poison ordeal has almost +extinguished the tribe. On one occasion the whole population took poison +to prove their innocence. About half perished on the spot, and the +remnant, we are told, still continuing their superstitious practice, must +soon become extinct.(536) With such examples before us we need not +hesitate to believe that many tribes have felt no scruple or delicacy in +observing a custom which tends to wipe out a single family. To attribute +such scruples to them is to commit the common, the perpetually repeated +mistake of judging the savage by the standard of European civilisation. If +any of my readers set out with the notion that all races of men think and +act much in the same way as educated Englishmen, the evidence of +superstitious belief and custom collected in the volumes of this work +should suffice to disabuse him of so erroneous a prepossession. + +(M155) The explanation here given of the custom of killing divine persons +assumes, or at least is readily combined with, the idea that the soul of +the slain divinity is transmitted to his successor. Of this transmission I +have no direct proof except in the case of the Shilluk, among whom the +practice of killing the divine king prevails in a typical form, and with +whom it is a fundamental article of faith that the soul of the divine +founder of the dynasty is immanent in every one of his slain +successors.(537) But if this is the only actual example of such a belief +which I can adduce, analogy seems to render it probable that a similar +succession to the soul of the slain god has been supposed to take place in +other instances, though direct evidence of it is wanting. For it has been +already shewn that the soul of the incarnate deity is often supposed to +transmigrate at death into another incarnation;(538) and if this takes +place when the death is a natural one, there seems no reason why it should +not take place when the death has been brought about by violence. +Certainly the idea that the soul of a dying person may be transmitted to +his successor is perfectly familiar to primitive peoples. In Nias the +eldest son usually succeeds his father in the chieftainship. But if from +any bodily or mental defect the eldest son is disqualified for ruling, the +father determines in his lifetime which of his sons shall succeed him. In +order, however, to establish his right of succession, it is necessary that +the son upon whom his father's choice falls shall catch in his mouth or in +a bag the last breath, and with it the soul, of the dying chief. For +whoever catches his last breath is chief equally with the appointed +successor. Hence the other brothers, and sometimes also strangers, crowd +round the dying man to catch his soul as it passes. The houses in Nias are +raised above the ground on posts, and it has happened that when the dying +man lay with his face on the floor, one of the candidates has bored a hole +in the floor and sucked in the chief's last breath through a bamboo tube. +When the chief has no son, his soul is caught in a bag, which is fastened +to an image made to represent the deceased; the soul is then believed to +pass into the image.(539) + +(M156) Amongst the Takilis or Carrier Indians of North-West America, when +a corpse was burned the priest pretended to catch the soul of the deceased +in his hands, which he closed with many gesticulations. He then +communicated the captured soul to the dead man's successor by throwing his +hands towards and blowing upon him. The person to whom the soul was thus +communicated took the name and rank of the deceased. On the death of a +chief the priest thus filled a responsible and influential position, for +he might transmit the soul to whom he would, though doubtless he generally +followed the regular line of succession.(540) In Guatemala, when a great +man lay at the point of death, they put a precious stone between his lips +to receive the parting soul, and this was afterwards kept as a memorial by +his nearest kinsman or most intimate friend.(541) Algonquin women who +wished to become mothers flocked to the side of a dying person in the hope +of receiving and being impregnated by the passing soul. Amongst the +Seminoles of Florida when a woman died in childbed the infant was held +over her face to receive her parting spirit.(542) When infants died within +a month or two of birth, the Huron Indians did not lay them in bark +coffins on poles, as they did with other corpses, but buried them beside +the paths, in order that they might secretly enter into the wombs of +passing women and be born again.(543) The Tonquinese cover the face of a +dying person with a handkerchief, and at the moment when he breathes his +last, they fold up the handkerchief carefully, thinking that they have +caught the soul in it.(544) The Romans caught the breath of dying friends +in their mouths, and so received into themselves the soul of the +departed.(545) The same custom is said to be still practised in +Lancashire.(546) + +(M157) On the seventh day after the death of a king of Gingiro the +sorcerers bring to his successor, wrapt in a piece of silk, a worm which +they say comes from the nose of the dead king; and they make the new king +kill the worm by squeezing its head between his teeth.(547) The ceremony +seems to be intended to convey the spirit of the deceased monarch to his +successor. The Danakil or Afars of eastern Africa believe that the soul of +a magician will be born again in the first male descendant of the man who +was most active in attending on the dying magician in his last hours. +Hence when a magician is ill he receives many attentions.(548) In Uganda +the spirit of the king who had been the last to die manifested itself from +time to time in the person of a priest, who was prepared for the discharge +of this exalted function by a peculiar ceremony. When the body of the king +had been embalmed and had lain for five months in the tomb, which was a +house built specially for it, the head was severed from the body and laid +in an ant-hill. Having been stript of flesh by the insects, the skull was +washed in a particular river (the Ndyabuworu) and filled with native beer. +One of the late king's priests then drank the beer out of the skull and +thus became himself a vessel meet to receive the spirit of the deceased +monarch. The skull was afterwards replaced in the tomb, but the lower jaw +was separated from it and deposited in a jar; and this jar, being swathed +in bark-cloth and decorated with beads so as to look like a man, +henceforth represented the late king. A house was built for its reception +in the shape of a beehive and divided into two rooms, an inner and an +outer. Any person might enter the outer room, but in the inner room the +spirit of the dead king was supposed to dwell. In front of the partition +was set a throne covered with lion and leopard skins, and fenced off from +the rest of the chamber by a rail of spears, shields, and knives, most of +them made of copper and brass, and beautifully worked. When the priest, +who had fitted himself to receive the king's spirit, desired to converse +with the people in the king's name, he went to the throne and addressing +the spirit in the inner room informed him of the business in hand. Then he +smoked one or two pipes of tobacco, and in a few minutes began to rave, +which was a sign that the spirit had entered into him. In this condition +he spoke with the voice and made known the wishes of the late king. When +he had done so, the spirit left him and returned into the inner room, and +he himself departed a mere man as before.(549) Every year at the new moon +of September the king of Sofala in eastern Africa used to perform +obsequies for the kings, his predecessors, on the top of a high mountain, +where they were buried. In the course of the lamentations for the dead, +the soul of the king who had died last used to enter into a man who +imitated the deceased monarch, both in voice and gesture. The living king +conversed with this man as with his dead father, consulting him in regard +to the affairs of the kingdom and receiving his oracular replies.(550) +These examples shew that provision is often made for the ghostly +succession of kings and chiefs. In the Hausa kingdom of Daura, in Northern +Nigeria, where the kings used regularly to be put to death on the first +symptoms of failing health, the new king had to step over the corpse of +his predecessor and to be bathed in the blood of a black ox, the skin of +which then served as a shroud for the body of the late king.(551) The +ceremony may well have been intended to convey the spirit of the dead king +to his successor. Certainly we know that many primitive peoples attribute +a magical virtue to the act of stepping over a person.(552) + +(M158) Sometimes it would appear that the spiritual link between a king +and the souls of his predecessors is formed by the possession of some part +of their persons. In southern Celebes, as we have seen, the regalia often +consist of corporeal portions of deceased rajahs, which are treasured as +sacred relics and confer the right to the throne.(553) Similarly among the +Sakalavas of southern Madagascar a vertebra of the neck, a nail, and a +lock of hair of a deceased king are placed in a crocodile's tooth and +carefully kept along with the similar relics of his predecessors in a +house set apart for the purpose. The possession of these relics +constitutes the right to the throne. A legitimate heir who should be +deprived of them would lose all his authority over the people, and on the +contrary a usurper who should make himself master of the relics would be +acknowledged king without dispute. It has sometimes happened that a +relation of the reigning monarch has stolen the crocodile teeth with their +precious contents, and then had himself proclaimed king. Accordingly, when +the Hovas invaded the country, knowing the superstition of the natives, +they paid less attention to the living king than to the relics of the +dead, which they publicly exhibited under a strong guard on pretext of +paying them the honours that were their due.(554) In antiquity, when a +king of the Panebian Libyans died, his people buried the body but cut off +the head, and having covered it with gold they dedicated it in a +sanctuary.(555) Among the Masai of East Africa, when an important chief +has been dead and buried for a year, his eldest son or other successor +removes the skull of the deceased, while he at the same time offers a +sacrifice and a libation with goat's blood, milk, and honey. He then +carefully secrets the skull, the possession of which is understood to +confirm him in power and to impart to him some of the wisdom of his +predecessor.(556) When the Alake or king of Abeokuta in West Africa dies, +the principal men decapitate his body, and placing the head in a large +earthen vessel deliver it to the new sovereign; it becomes his fetish and +he is bound to pay it honours.(557) Similarly, when the Jaga or King of +Cassange, in Angola, has departed this life, an official extracts a tooth +from the deceased monarch and presents it to his successor, who deposits +it along with the teeth of former kings in a box, which is the sole +property of the crown and without which no Jaga can legitimately exercise +the regal power.(558) Sometimes, in order apparently that the new +sovereign may inherit more surely the magical and other virtues of the +royal line, he is required to eat a piece of his dead predecessor. Thus at +Abeokuta not only was the head of the late king presented to his +successor, but the tongue was cut out and given him to eat. Hence, when +the natives wish to signify that the sovereign reigns, they say, "He has +eaten the king."(559) A custom of the same sort is still practised at +Ibadan, a large town in the interior of Lagos, West Africa. When the king +dies his head is cut off and sent to his nominal suzerain, the Alafin of +Oyo, the paramount king of Yoruba land; but his heart is eaten by his +successor. This ceremony was performed a few years ago at the accession of +a new king of Ibadan.(560) + +(M159) Taking the whole of the preceding evidence into account, we may +fairly suppose that when the divine king or priest is put to death his +spirit is believed to pass into his successor. In point of fact we have +seen that among the Shilluk of the White Nile, who regularly kill their +divine kings, every king on his accession has to perform a ceremony which +appears designed to convey to him the same sacred and worshipful spirit +which animated all his predecessors, one after the other, on the +throne.(561) + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. THE KILLING OF THE TREE-SPIRIT. + + + + +§ 1. The Whitsuntide Mummers. + + +(M160) It remains to ask what light the custom of killing the divine king +or priest sheds upon the special subject of our enquiry. In the first part +of this work we saw reason to suppose that the King of the Wood at Nemi +was regarded as an incarnation of a tree-spirit or of the spirit of +vegetation, and that as such he would be endowed, in the belief of his +worshippers, with a magical power of making the trees to bear fruit, the +crops to grow, and so on.(562) His life must therefore have been held very +precious by his worshippers, and was probably hedged in by a system of +elaborate precautions or taboos like those by which, in so many places, +the life of the man-god has been guarded against the malignant influence +of demons and sorcerers. But we have seen that the very value attached to +the life of the man-god necessitates his violent death as the only means +of preserving it from the inevitable decay of age. The same reasoning +would apply to the King of the Wood; he, too, had to be killed in order +that the divine spirit, incarnate in him, might be transferred in its +integrity to his successor. The rule that he held office till a stronger +should slay him might be supposed to secure both the preservation of his +divine life in full vigour and its transference to a suitable successor as +soon as that vigour began to be impaired. For so long as he could maintain +his position by the strong hand, it might be inferred that his natural +force was not abated; whereas his defeat and death at the hands of another +proved that his strength was beginning to fail and that it was time his +divine life should be lodged in a less dilapidated tabernacle. This +explanation of the rule that the King of the Wood had to be slain by his +successor at least renders that rule perfectly intelligible. It is +strongly supported by the theory and practice of the Shilluk, who put +their divine king to death at the first signs of failing health, lest his +decrepitude should entail a corresponding failure of vital energy on the +corn, the cattle, and men.(563) Moreover, it is countenanced by the +analogy of the Chitome, upon whose life the existence of the world was +supposed to hang, and who was therefore slain by his successor as soon as +he shewed signs of breaking up. Again, the terms on which in later times +the King of Calicut held office are identical with those attached to the +office of King of the Wood, except that whereas the former might be +assailed by a candidate at any time, the King of Calicut might only be +attacked once every twelve years. But as the leave granted to the King of +Calicut to reign so long as he could defend himself against all comers was +a mitigation of the old rule which set a fixed term to his life,(564) so +we may conjecture that the similar permission granted to the King of the +Wood was a mitigation of an older custom of putting him to death at the +end of a definite period. In both cases the new rule gave to the god-man +at least a chance for his life, which under the old rule was denied him; +and people probably reconciled themselves to the change by reflecting that +so long as the god-man could maintain himself by the sword against all +assaults, there was no reason to apprehend that the fatal decay had set +in. + +(M161) The conjecture that the King of the Wood was formerly put to death +at the expiry of a fixed term, without being allowed a chance for his +life, will be confirmed if evidence can be adduced of a custom of +periodically killing his counterparts, the human representatives of the +tree-spirit, in Northern Europe. Now in point of fact such a custom has +left unmistakable traces of itself in the rural festivals of the +peasantry. To take examples. + +(M162) At Niederpoering, in Lower Bavaria, the Whitsuntide representative +of the tree-spirit--the _Pfingstl_ as he was called--was clad from top to +toe in leaves and flowers. On his head he wore a high pointed cap, the +ends of which rested on his shoulders, only two holes being left in it for +his eyes. The cap was covered with water-flowers and surmounted with a +nosegay of peonies. The sleeves of his coat were also made of +water-plants, and the rest of his body was enveloped in alder and hazel +leaves. On each side of him marched a boy holding up one of the +_Pfingstl's_ arms. These two boys carried drawn swords, and so did most of +the others who formed the procession. They stopped at every house where +they hoped to receive a present; and the people, in hiding, soused the +leaf-clad boy with water. All rejoiced when he was well drenched. Finally +he waded into the brook up to his middle; whereupon one of the boys, +standing on the bridge, pretended to cut off his head.(565) At Wurmlingen, +in Swabia, a score of young fellows dress themselves on Whit-Monday in +white shirts and white trousers, with red scarves round their waists and +swords hanging from the scarves. They ride on horseback into the wood, led +by two trumpeters blowing their trumpets. In the wood they cut down leafy +oak branches, in which they envelop from head to foot him who was the last +of their number to ride out of the village. His legs, however, are encased +separately, so that he may be able to mount his horse again. Further, they +give him a long artificial neck, with an artificial head and a false face +on the top of it. Then a May-tree is cut, generally an aspen or beech +about ten feet high; and being decked with coloured handkerchiefs and +ribbons it is entrusted to a special "May-bearer." The cavalcade then +returns with music and song to the village. Amongst the personages who +figure in the procession are a Moorish king with a sooty face and a crown +on his head, a Dr. Iron-Beard, a corporal, and an executioner. They halt +on the village green, and each of the characters makes a speech in rhyme. +The executioner announces that the leaf-clad man has been condemned to +death, and cuts off his false head. Then the riders race to the May-tree, +which has been set up a little way off. The first man who succeeds in +wrenching it from the ground as he gallops past keeps it with all its +decorations. The ceremony is observed every second or third year.(566) + +(M163) In Saxony and Thueringen there is a Whitsuntide ceremony called +"chasing the Wild Man out of the bush," or "fetching the Wild Man out of +the Wood." A young fellow is enveloped in leaves or moss and called the +Wild Man. He hides in the wood and the other lads of the village go out to +seek him. They find him, lead him captive out of the wood, and fire at him +with blank muskets. He falls like dead to the ground, but a lad dressed as +a doctor bleeds him, and he comes to life again. At this they rejoice, +and, binding him fast on a waggon, take him to the village, where they +tell all the people how they have caught the Wild Man. At every house they +receive a gift.(567) In the Erzgebirge the following custom was annually +observed at Shrovetide about the beginning of the seventeenth century. Two +men disguised as Wild Men, the one in brushwood and moss, the other in +straw, were led about the streets, and at last taken to the market-place, +where they were chased up and down, shot and stabbed. Before falling they +reeled about with strange gestures and spirted blood on the people from +bladders which they carried. When they were down the huntsmen placed them +on boards and carried them to the ale-house, the miners marching beside +them and winding blasts on their mining tools as if they had taken a noble +head of game.(568) A very similar Shrovetide custom is still observed near +Schluckenau in Bohemia. A man dressed up as a Wild Man is chased through +several streets till he comes to a narrow lane across which a cord is +stretched. He stumbles over the cord and, falling to the ground, is +overtaken and caught by his pursuers. The executioner runs up and stabs +with his sword a bladder filled with blood which the Wild Man wears round +his body; so the Wild Man dies, while a stream of blood reddens the +ground. Next day a straw-man, made up to look like the Wild Man, is placed +on a litter, and, accompanied by a great crowd, is taken to a pool into +which it is thrown by the executioner. The ceremony is called "burying the +Carnival."(569) + +(M164) In Semic (Bohemia) the custom of beheading the King is observed on +Whit-Monday. A troop of young people disguise themselves; each is girt +with a girdle of bark and carries a wooden sword and a trumpet of +willow-bark. The King wears a robe of tree-bark adorned with flowers, on +his head is a crown of bark decked with flowers and branches, his feet are +wound about with ferns, a mask hides his face, and for a sceptre he has a +hawthorn switch in his hand. A lad leads him through the village by a rope +fastened to his foot, while the rest dance about, blow their trumpets, and +whistle. In every farmhouse the King is chased round the room, and one of +the troop, amid much noise and outcry strikes with his sword a blow on the +King's robe of bark till it rings again. Then a gratuity is demanded.(570) +The ceremony of decapitation, which is here somewhat slurred over, is +carried out with a greater semblance of reality in other parts of Bohemia. +Thus in some villages of the Koeniggraetz district on Whit-Monday the girls +assemble under one lime-tree and the young men under another, all dressed +in their best and tricked out with ribbons. The young men twine a garland +for the Queen, and the girls another for the King. When they have chosen +the King and Queen they all go in procession, two and two, to the +ale-house, from the balcony of which the crier proclaims the names of the +King and Queen. Both are then invested with the insignia of their office +and are crowned with the garlands, while the music plays up. Then some one +gets on a bench and accuses the King of various offences, such as +ill-treating the cattle. The King appeals to witnesses and a trial ensues, +at the close of which the judge, who carries a white wand as his badge of +office, pronounces a verdict of "Guilty" or "Not guilty." If the verdict +is "Guilty," the judge breaks his wand, the King kneels on a white cloth, +all heads are bared, and a soldier sets three or four hats, one above the +other, on his Majesty's head. The judge then pronounces the word "Guilty" +thrice in a loud voice, and orders the crier to behead the King. The crier +obeys by striking off the King's hats with his wooden sword.(571) + +(M165) But perhaps, for our purpose, the most instructive of these mimic +executions is the following Bohemian one, which has been in part described +already.(572) In some places of the Pilsen district (Bohemia) on +Whit-Monday the King is dressed in bark, ornamented with flowers and +ribbons; he wears a crown of gilt paper and rides a horse, which is also +decked with flowers. Attended by a judge, an executioner, and other +characters, and followed by a train of soldiers, all mounted, he rides to +the village square, where a hut or arbour of green boughs has been erected +under the May-trees, which are firs, freshly cut, peeled to the top, and +dressed with flowers and ribbons. After the dames and maidens of the +village have been criticised and a frog beheaded, in the way already +described, the cavalcade rides to a place previously determined upon, in a +straight, broad street. Here they draw up in two lines and the King takes +to flight. He is given a short start and rides off at full speed, pursued +by the whole troop. If they fail to catch him he remains King for another +year, and his companions must pay his score at the ale-house in the +evening. But if they overtake and catch him he is scourged with hazel rods +or beaten with the wooden swords and compelled to dismount. Then the +executioner asks, "Shall I behead this King?" The answer is given, "Behead +him"; the executioner brandishes his axe, and with the words, "One, two, +three, let the King headless be!" he strikes off the King's crown. Amid +the loud cries of the bystanders the King sinks to the ground; then he is +laid on a bier and carried to the nearest farmhouse.(573) + +(M166) In most of the personages who are thus slain in mimicry it is +impossible not to recognise representatives of the tree-spirit or spirit +of vegetation, as he is supposed to manifest himself in spring. The bark, +leaves, and flowers in which the actors are dressed, and the season of the +year at which they appear, shew that they belong to the same class as the +Grass King, King of the May, Jack-in-the-Green, and other representatives +of the vernal spirit of vegetation which we examined in the first part of +this work.(574) As if to remove any possible doubt on this head, we find +that in two cases(575) these slain men are brought into direct connexion +with May-trees, which are the impersonal, as the May King, Grass King, and +so forth, are the personal representatives of the tree-spirit. The +drenching of the _Pfingstl_ with water and his wading up to the middle +into the brook are, therefore, no doubt rain-charms like those which have +been already described.(576) + +(M167) But if these personages represent, as they certainly do, the spirit +of vegetation in spring, the question arises, Why kill them? What is the +object of slaying the spirit of vegetation at any time and above all in +spring, when his services are most wanted? The only probable answer to +this question seems to be given in the explanation already proposed of the +custom of killing the divine king or priest. The divine life, incarnate in +a material and mortal body, is liable to be tainted and corrupted by the +weakness of the frail medium in which it is for a time enshrined; and if +it is to be saved from the increasing enfeeblement which it must +necessarily share with its human incarnation as he advances in years, it +must be detached from him before, or at least as soon as, he exhibits +signs of decay, in order to be transferred to a vigorous successor. This +is done by killing the old representative of the god and conveying the +divine spirit from him to a new incarnation. The killing of the god, that +is, of his human incarnation, is therefore merely a necessary step to his +revival or resurrection in a better form. Far from being an extinction of +the divine spirit, it is only the beginning of a purer and stronger +manifestation of it. If this explanation holds good of the custom of +killing divine kings and priests in general, it is still more obviously +applicable to the custom of annually killing the representative of the +tree-spirit or spirit of vegetation in spring. For the decay of plant life +in winter is readily interpreted by primitive man as an enfeeblement of +the spirit of vegetation; the spirit has, he thinks, grown old and weak +and must therefore be renovated by being slain and brought to life in a +younger and fresher form. Thus the killing of the representative of the +tree-spirit in spring is regarded as a means to promote and quicken the +growth of vegetation. For the killing of the tree-spirit is associated +always (we must suppose) implicitly, and sometimes explicitly also, with a +revival or resurrection of him in a more youthful and vigorous form. So in +the Saxon and Thueringen custom, after the Wild Man has been shot he is +brought to life again by a doctor;(577) and in the Wurmlingen ceremony +there figures a Dr. Iron-Beard, who probably once played a similar part; +certainly in another spring ceremony, which will be described presently, +Dr. Iron-Beard pretends to restore a dead man to life. But of this revival +or resurrection of the god we shall have more to say anon. + +(M168) The points of similarity between these North European personages +and the subject of our enquiry--the King of the Wood or priest of Nemi--are +sufficiently striking. In these northern maskers we see kings, whose dress +of bark and leaves, along with the hut of green boughs and the fir-trees +under which they hold their court, proclaim them unmistakably as, like +their Italian counterpart, Kings of the Wood. Like him they die a violent +death, but like him they may escape from it for a time by their bodily +strength and agility; for in several of these northern customs the flight +and pursuit of the king is a prominent part of the ceremony, and in one +case at least if the king can outrun his pursuers he retains his life and +his office for another year. In this last case the king in fact holds +office on condition of running for his life once a year, just as the King +of Calicut in later times held office on condition of defending his life +against all comers once every twelve years, and just as the priest of Nemi +held office on condition of defending himself against any assault at any +time. In every one of these instances the life of the god-man is prolonged +on condition of his shewing, in a severe physical contest of fight or +flight, that his bodily strength is not decayed, and that, therefore, the +violent death, which sooner or later is inevitable, may for the present be +postponed. With regard to flight it is noticeable that flight figured +conspicuously both in the legend and in the practice of the King of the +Wood. He had to be a runaway slave in memory of the flight of Orestes, the +traditional founder of the worship; hence the Kings of the Wood are +described by an ancient writer as "both strong of hand and fleet of +foot."(578) Perhaps if we knew the ritual of the Arician grove fully we +might find that the king was allowed a chance for his life by flight, like +his Bohemian brother. I have already conjectured that the annual flight of +the priestly king at Rome (_regifugium_) was at first a flight of the same +kind; in other words, that he was originally one of those divine kings who +are either put to death after a fixed period or allowed to prove by the +strong hand or the fleet foot that their divinity is vigorous and +unimpaired.(579) One more point of resemblance may be noted between the +Italian King of the Wood and his northern counterparts. In Saxony and +Thueringen the representative of the tree-spirit, after being killed, is +brought to life again by a doctor. This is exactly what legend affirmed to +have happened to the first King of the Wood at Nemi, Hippolytus or +Virbius, who after he had been killed by his horses was restored to life +by the physician Aesculapius.(580) Such a legend tallies well with the +theory that the slaying of the King of the Wood was only a step to his +revival or resurrection in his successor. + + + + +§ 2. Mock Human Sacrifices. + + +(M169) In the preceding discussion it has been assumed that the mock +killing of the Wild Man and of the King in North European folk-custom is a +modern substitute for an ancient custom of killing them in earnest. Those +who best know the tenacity of life possessed by folk-custom and its +tendency, with the growth of civilisation, to dwindle from solemn ritual +into mere pageant and pastime, will be least likely to question the truth +of this assumption. That human sacrifices were commonly offered by the +ancestors of the civilised races of North Europe, Celts, Teutons, and +Slavs, is certain.(581) It is not, therefore, surprising that the modern +peasant should do in mimicry what his forefathers did in reality. We know +as a matter of fact that in other parts of the world mock human sacrifices +have been substituted for real ones. Thus in Minahassa, a district of +Celebes, human victims used to be regularly sacrificed at certain +festivals, but through Dutch influence the custom was abolished and a sham +sacrifice substituted for it. The victim was seated in a chair and all the +usual preparations were made for sacrificing him, but at the critical +moment, when the chief priest had heaved up his flashing swords (for he +wielded two of them) to deal the fatal stroke, his assistants sprang +forward, their hands wrapt in cloths, to grasp and arrest the descending +blades. The precaution was necessary, for the priest was wound up to such +a pitch of excitement that if left alone he might have consummated the +sacrifice. Afterwards an effigy, made out of the stem of a banana-tree, +was substituted for the human victim; and the blood, which might not be +wanting, was supplied by fowls.(582) Near the native town of Luba, in +western Busoga, a district of central Africa, there is a sacred tree of +the species known as _Parinarium_. Its glossy white trunk shoots up to a +height of a hundred feet before it sends out branches. The tree is +surrounded by small fetish huts and curious arcades. Once when the dry +season was drawing to an end and the new crops were not yet ripe, the +Basoga suffered from hunger. So they came to the sacred tree in canoes, of +which the prows were decked with wreaths of yellow acacia blossom and +other flowers. Landing on the shore they stripped themselves of their +clothing and wrapped ropes made of green creepers and leaves round their +arms and necks. At the foot of the tree they danced to an accompaniment of +song. Then a little girl, about ten years old, was brought and laid at the +base of the tree as if she were to be sacrificed. Every detail of the +sacrifice was gone through in mimicry. A slight cut was made in the +child's neck, and she was then caught up and thrown into the lake, where a +man stood ready to save her from drowning. By native custom the girl on +whom this ceremony had been performed was dedicated to a life of perpetual +virginity.(583) Captain Bourke was informed by an old chief that the +Indians of Arizona used to offer human sacrifices at the Feast of Fire +when the days are shortest. The victim had his throat cut, his breast +opened, and his heart taken out by one of the priests. This custom was +abolished by the Mexicans, but for a long time afterwards a modified form +of it was secretly observed as follows. The victim, generally a young man, +had his throat cut, and blood was allowed to flow freely; but the +medicine-men sprinkled "medicine" on the gash, which soon healed up, and +the man recovered.(584) So in the ritual of Artemis at Halae in Attica, a +man's throat was cut and the blood allowed to gush out, but he was not +killed.(585) At the funeral of a chief in Nias slaves are sacrificed; a +little of their hair is cut off, and then they are beheaded. The victims +are generally purchased for the purpose, and their number is proportioned +to the wealth and power of the deceased. But if the number required is +excessively great or cannot be procured, some of the chiefs own slaves +undergo a sham sacrifice. They are told, and believe, that they are about +to be decapitated; their heads are placed on a log and their necks struck +with the back of a sword. The fright drives some of them crazy.(586) When +a Hindoo has killed or ill-treated an ape, a bird of prey of a certain +kind, or a cobra capella, in the presence of the worshippers of Vishnu, he +must expiate his offence by the pretended sacrifice and resurrection of a +human being. An incision is made in the victim's arm, the blood flows, he +grows faint, falls, and feigns to die. Afterwards he is brought to life by +being sprinkled with blood drawn from the thigh of a worshipper of Vishnu. +The crowd of spectators is fully convinced of the reality of this +simulated death and resurrection.(587) The Malayans, a caste of Southern +India, act as devil dancers for the purpose of exorcising demons who have +taken possession of people. One of their ceremonies, "known as +_ucchav[-e]li_, has several forms, all of which seem to be either +survivals, or at least imitations of human sacrifice. One of these +consists of a mock living burial of the principal performer, who is placed +in a pit, which is covered with planks, on the top of which a sacrifice is +performed, with a fire kindled with jack wood (_Artocarpus integrifolia_) +and a plant called erinna. In another variety, the Malayan cuts his left +forearm, and smears his face with the blood thus drawn."(588) In Samoa, +where every family had its god incarnate in one or more species of +animals, any disrespect shewn to the worshipful animal, either by members +of the kin or by a stranger in their presence, had to be atoned for by +pretending to bake one of the family in a cold oven as a burnt sacrifice +to appease the wrath of the offended god. For example, if a stranger +staying in a household whose god was incarnate in cuttle-fish were to +catch and cook one of these creatures, or if a member of the family had +been present where a cuttle-fish was eaten, the family would meet in +solemn conclave and choose a man or woman to go and lie down in a cold +oven, where he would be covered over with leaves, just as if he were +really being baked. While this mock sacrifice was being carried out the +family prayed: "O bald-headed Cuttle-fish! forgive what has been done, it +was all the work of a stranger." If they had not thus abased themselves +before the divine cuttle-fish, he would undoubtedly have come and been the +death of somebody by making a cuttle-fish to grow in his inside.(589) + +(M170) Sometimes, as in Minahassa, the pretended sacrifice is carried out, +not on a living person, but on an effigy. At the City of the Sun in +ancient Egypt three men used to be sacrificed every day, after the priests +had stripped and examined them, like calves, to see whether they were +without blemish and fit for the altar. But King Amasis ordered waxen +images to be substituted for the human victims.(590) An Indian law-book, +the _Calica Puran_, prescribes that when the sacrifice of lions, tigers, +or human beings is required, an image of a lion, tiger, or man shall be +made with butter, paste, or barley meal, and sacrificed instead.(591) Some +of the Gonds of India formerly offered human sacrifices; they now +sacrifice straw-men, which are found to answer the purpose just as +well.(592) Colonel Dalton was told that in some of their villages the +Bhagats "annually make an image of a man in wood, put clothes and +ornaments on it, and present it before the altar of a Mahadeo. The person +who officiates as priest on the occasion says: 'O Mahadeo, we sacrifice +this man to you according to ancient customs. Give us rain in due season, +and a plentiful harvest.' Then with one stroke of the axe the head of the +image is struck off, and the body is removed and buried."(593) Formerly, +when a Siamese army was about to take the field a condemned criminal +representing the enemy was put to death, but a humane king caused a puppet +to be substituted for the man. The effigy is felled by the blow of an axe, +and if it drops at the first stroke, the omen is favourable.(594) In the +East Indian island of Siaoo or Siauw, one of the Sangi group, a child +stolen from a neighbouring island used to be sacrificed every year to the +spirit of a volcano in order that there might be no eruption. The victim +was slowly tortured to death in the temple by a priestess, who cut off the +child's ears, nose, fingers, and so on, then consummated the sacrifice by +splitting open the breast. The spectacle was witnessed by hundreds of +people, and feasting and cock-fighting went on for nine days afterwards. +In course of time the annual human victim was replaced by a wooden puppet, +which was cut to pieces in the same manner.(595) The Kayans of Borneo used +to kill slaves at the death of a chief and nail them to the tomb, in order +that they might accompany the chief on his long journey to the other world +and paddle the canoe in which he must travel. This is no longer done, but +instead they put up a wooden figure of a man at the head and another of a +woman at the foot of the chief's coffin as it lies in state before the +funeral. And a small wooden image of a man is usually fixed on the top of +the tomb to row the canoe for the dead chief.(596) In ancient times human +sacrifices used to be offered at the graves of Mikados and princes of +Japan, the personal attendants of the deceased being buried alive within +the precincts of the tomb. But a humane emperor ordered that clay images +should thenceforth be substituted for live men and women. One of these +images is now in the British Museum.(597) The Toboongkoos of central +Celebes, who are reported still to carry home as trophies the heads of +their slain enemies, resort to the following cure for certain kinds of +sickness. The heathen priestess cuts the likeness of a human head out of +the sheath of a sago-leaf and sets it up on three sticks in the courtyard +of the house. The patient, arrayed in his or her best clothes, is then +brought down into the court and remains there while women dance and sing +round the artificial head, and men perform sham fights with shield, spear, +and bow, just as they did, or perhaps still do, when they have brought +back a human head from a raid. After that the sick man is taken back to +the house, and an improvement in his health is confidently expected.(598) +In this ceremony the sham head is doubtless a substitute for a real one. + +(M171) With these mock sacrifices of human lives we may compare mimic +sacrifices of other kinds. In southern India, as in many parts of the +world, it used to be customary to sacrifice joints of the fingers on +certain occasions. Thus among the Morasas, when a grandchild was born in +the family, the wife of the eldest son of the grandfather must have the +last two joints of the third and fourth fingers of her right hand +amputated at a temple of Bhairava. The amputation was performed by the +village carpenter with a chisel. Nowadays, the custom having been +forbidden by the English Government, the sacrifice is performed in +mimicry. Some people stick gold or silver pieces with flour paste to the +ends of their fingers and then cut or pull them off. Others tie flowers +round the fingers that used to be amputated, and go through a pantomime of +cutting the fingers by putting a chisel on the joint and then taking it +away. Others again twist gold wires in the shape of rings round their +fingers. These the carpenter removes and appropriates.(599) In Niue or +Savage Island, in the South Pacific, the following custom continued till +lately to be observed. When a boy was a few weeks old the men assembled, +and a feast was made. On the village square an awning was rigged up, and +the child was laid on the ground under it. An old man then approached it, +and performed the operation of circumcision on the infant in dumb show +with his forefinger. No child was regarded as a full-born member of the +tribe till he had been subjected to this rite. The natives say that real +circumcision was never performed in their island; but as it was commonly +practised in Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa, we may assume that its imitation in +Niue was a substitute, introduced at some time or other, for the actual +operation.(600) Similarly when an adult Hindoo joins the sect of the Daira +or Mahadev Mohammedans in Mysore, a mock rite of circumcision is performed +on him instead of the real operation. A betel leaf is wrapped round the +male member of the neophyte and the loose end of the leaf is snipped off +instead of the prepuce.(601) + + + + +§ 3. Burying the Carnival. + + +(M172) Thus far I have offered an explanation of the rule which required +that the priest of Nemi should be slain by his successor. The explanation +claims to be no more than probable; our scanty knowledge of the custom and +of its history forbids it to be more. But its probability will be +augmented in proportion to the extent to which the motives and modes of +thought which it assumes can be proved to have operated in primitive +society. Hitherto the god with whose death and resurrection we have been +chiefly concerned has been the tree-god. But if I can shew that the custom +of killing the god and the belief in his resurrection originated, or at +least existed, in the hunting and pastoral stage of society, when the +slain god was an animal, and that it survived into the agricultural stage, +when the slain god was the corn or a human being representing the corn, +the probability of my explanation will have been considerably increased. +This I shall attempt to do in the sequel, and in the course of the +discussion I hope to clear up some obscurities which still remain, and to +answer some objections which may have suggested themselves to the reader. + +(M173) We start from the point at which we left off--the spring customs of +European peasantry. Besides the ceremonies already described there are two +kindred sets of observances in which the simulated death of a divine or +supernatural being is a conspicuous feature. In one of them the being +whose death is dramatically represented is a personification of the +Carnival; in the other it is Death himself. The former ceremony falls +naturally at the end of the Carnival, either on the last day of that merry +season, namely Shrove Tuesday, or on the first day of Lent, namely Ash +Wednesday. The date of the other ceremony--the Carrying or Driving out of +Death, as it is commonly called--is not so uniformly fixed. Generally it is +the fourth Sunday in Lent, which hence goes by the name of Dead Sunday; +but in some places the celebration falls a week earlier, in others, as +among the Czechs of Bohemia, a week later, while in certain German +villages of Moravia it is held on the first Sunday after Easter. Perhaps, +as has been suggested, the date may originally have been variable, +depending on the appearance of the first swallow or some other herald of +the spring. Some writers regard the ceremony as Slavonic in its origin. +Grimm thought it was a festival of the New Year with the old Slavs, who +began their year in March.(602) We shall first take examples of the mimic +death of the Carnival, which always falls before the other in the +calendar. + +(M174) At Frosinone, in Latium, about half-way between Rome and Naples, +the dull monotony of life in a provincial Italian town is agreeably broken +on the last day of the Carnival by the ancient festival known as the +_Radica_. About four o'clock in the afternoon the town band, playing +lively tunes and followed by a great crowd, proceeds to the Piazza del +Plebiscito, where is the Sub-Prefecture as well as the rest of the +Government buildings. Here, in the middle of the square, the eyes of the +expectant multitude are greeted by the sight of an immense car decked with +many-coloured festoons and drawn by four horses. Mounted on the car is a +huge chair, on which sits enthroned the majestic figure of the Carnival, a +man of stucco about nine feet high with a rubicund and smiling +countenance. Enormous boots, a tin helmet like those which grace the heads +of officers of the Italian marine, and a coat of many colours embellished +with strange devices, adorn the outward man of this stately personage. His +left hand rests on the arm of the chair, while with his right he +gracefully salutes the crowd, being moved to this act of civility by a +string which is pulled by a man who modestly shrinks from publicity under +the mercy-seat. And now the crowd, surging excitedly round the car, gives +vent to its feelings in wild cries of joy, gentle and simple being mixed +up together and all dancing furiously the _Saltarello_. A special feature +of the festival is that every one must carry in his hand what is called a +_radica_ ("root"), by which is meant a huge leaf of the aloe or rather the +agave. Any one who ventured into the crowd without such a leaf would be +unceremoniously hustled out of it, unless indeed he bore as a substitute a +large cabbage at the end of a long stick or a bunch of grass curiously +plaited. When the multitude, after a short turn, has escorted the +slow-moving car to the gate of the Sub-Prefecture, they halt, and the car, +jolting over the uneven ground, rumbles into the courtyard. A hush now +falls on the crowd, their subdued voices sounding, according to the +description of one who has heard them, like the murmur of a troubled sea. +All eyes are turned anxiously to the door from which the Sub-Prefect +himself and the other representatives of the majesty of the law are +expected to issue and pay their homage to the hero of the hour. A few +moments of suspense and then a storm of cheers and hand-clapping salutes +the appearance of the dignitaries, as they file out and, descending the +staircase, take their place in the procession. The hymn of the Carnival is +now thundered out, after which, amid a deafening roar, aloe leaves and +cabbages are whirled aloft and descend impartially on the heads of the +just and the unjust, who lend fresh zest to the proceedings by engaging in +a free fight. When these preliminaries have been concluded to the +satisfaction of all concerned, the procession gets under weigh. The rear +is brought up by a cart laden with barrels of wine and policemen, the +latter engaged in the congenial task of serving out wine to all who ask +for it, while a most internecine struggle, accompanied by a copious +discharge of yells, blows, and blasphemy, goes on among the surging crowd +at the cart's tail in their anxiety not to miss the glorious opportunity +of intoxicating themselves at the public expense. Finally, after the +procession has paraded the principal streets in this majestic manner, the +effigy of Carnival is taken to the middle of a public square, stripped of +his finery, laid on a pile of wood, and burnt amid the cries of the +multitude, who thundering out once more the song of the Carnival fling +their so-called "roots" on the pyre and give themselves up without +restraint to the pleasures of the dance.(603) + +(M175) In the Abruzzi a pasteboard figure of the Carnival is carried by +four grave-diggers with pipes in their mouths and bottles of wine slung at +their shoulder-belts. In front walks the wife of the Carnival, dressed in +mourning and dissolved in tears. From time to time the company halts, and +while the wife addresses the sympathising public, the grave-diggers +refresh the inner man with a pull at the bottle. In the open square the +mimic corpse is laid on a pyre, and to the roll of drums, the shrill +screams of the women, and the gruffer cries of the men a light is set to +it. While the figure burns, chestnuts are thrown about among the crowd. +Sometimes the Carnival is represented by a straw-man at the top of a pole +which is borne through the town by a troop of mummers in the course of the +afternoon. When evening comes on, four of the mummers hold out a quilt or +sheet by the corners, and the figure of the Carnival is made to tumble +into it. The procession is then resumed, the performers weeping crocodile +tears and emphasising the poignancy of their grief by the help of +saucepans and dinner bells. Sometimes, again, in the Abruzzi the dead +Carnival is personified by a living man who lies in a coffin, attended by +another who acts the priest and dispenses holy water in great profusion +from a bathing tub.(604) In Malta the death of the Carnival used to be +mourned by women on the last day of the merry festival. Clad from head to +foot in black mantles, they carried through the streets of the city the +linen effigy of a corpse, stuffed with straw or hay and decked with leaves +and oranges. As they carried it, they chanted dirges, stopping after every +verse to howl like professional mourners. The custom came to an end about +the year 1737.(605) + +(M176) At Lerida, in Catalonia, the funeral of the Carnival was witnessed +by an English traveller in 1877. On the last Sunday of the Carnival a +grand procession of infantry, cavalry, and maskers of many sorts, some on +horseback and some in carriages, escorted the grand car of His Grace Pau +Pi, as the effigy was called, in triumph through the principal streets. +For three days the revelry ran high, and then at midnight on the last day +of the Carnival the same procession again wound through the streets, but +under a different aspect and for a different end. The triumphal car was +exchanged for a hearse, in which reposed the effigy of his dead Grace: a +troop of maskers, who in the first procession had played the part of +Students of Folly with many a merry quip and jest, now, robed as priests +and bishops, paced slowly along holding aloft huge lighted tapers and +singing a dirge. All the mummers wore crape, and all the horsemen carried +blazing flambeaux. Down the high street, between the lofty, many-storeyed +and balconied houses, where every window, every balcony, every housetop +was crammed with a dense mass of spectators, all dressed and masked in +fantastic gorgeousness, the procession took its melancholy way. Over the +scene flashed and played the shifting cross-lights and shadows from the +moving torches: red and blue Bengal lights flared up and died out again; +and above the trampling of the horses and the measured tread of the +marching multitude rose the voices of the priests chanting the requiem, +while the military bands struck in with the solemn roll of the muffled +drums. On reaching the principal square the procession halted, a burlesque +funeral oration was pronounced over the defunct Pau Pi, and the lights +were extinguished. Immediately the devil and his angels darted from the +crowd, seized the body and fled away with it, hotly pursued by the whole +multitude, yelling, screaming, and cheering. Naturally the fiends were +overtaken and dispersed; and the sham corpse, rescued from their clutches, +was laid in a grave that had been made ready for its reception. Thus the +Carnival of 1877 at Lerida died and was buried.(606) + +(M177) A ceremony of the same sort is observed in Provence on Ash +Wednesday. An effigy called Caramantran, whimsically attired, is drawn in +a chariot or borne on a litter, accompanied by the populace in grotesque +costumes, who carry gourds full of wine and drain them with all the marks, +real or affected, of intoxication. At the head of the procession are some +men disguised as judges and barristers, and a tall gaunt personage who +masquerades as Lent; behind them follow young people mounted on miserable +hacks and attired as mourners who pretend to bewail the fate that is in +store for Caramantran. In the principal square the procession halts, the +tribunal is constituted, and Caramantran placed at the bar. After a formal +trial he is sentenced to death amid the groans of the mob; the barrister +who defended him embraces his client for the last time: the officers of +justice do their duty: the condemned is set with his back to a wall and +hurried into eternity under a shower of stones. The sea or a river +receives his mangled remains.(607) At Lussac in the department of Vienne +young people, attired in long mourning robes and with woebegone +countenances, carry an effigy down to the river on Ash Wednesday and throw +it into the river, crying, "Carnival is dead! Carnival is dead!"(608) +Throughout nearly the whole of the Ardennes it was and still is customary +on Ash Wednesday to burn an effigy which is supposed to represent the +Carnival, while appropriate verses are sung round about the blazing +figure. Very often an attempt is made to fashion the effigy in the +likeness of the husband who is reputed to be least faithful to his wife of +any in the village. As might perhaps have been anticipated, the +distinction of being selected for portraiture under these painful +circumstances has a slight tendency to breed domestic jars, especially +when the portrait is burnt in front of the house of the gay deceiver whom +it represents, while a powerful chorus of caterwauls, groans, and other +melodious sounds bears public testimony to the opinion which his friends +and neighbours entertain of his private virtues. In some villages of the +Ardennes a young man of flesh and blood, dressed up in hay and straw, used +to act the part of Shrove Tuesday (_Mardi Gras_), as the personification +of the Carnival is often called in France after the last day of the period +which he personates. He was brought before a mock tribunal, and being +condemned to death was placed with his back to a wall, like a soldier at a +military execution, and fired at with blank cartridges. At Vrigne-aux-Bois +one of these harmless buffoons, named Thierry, was accidentally killed by +a wad that had been left in a musket of the firing-party. When poor Shrove +Tuesday dropped under the fire, the applause was loud and long, he did it +so naturally; but when he did not get up again, they ran to him and found +him a corpse. Since then there have been no more of these mock executions +in the Ardennes.(609) In Franche-Comte people used to make an effigy of +Shrove Tuesday on Ash Wednesday, and carry it about the streets to the +accompaniment of songs. Then they brought it to the public square, where +the offender was tried in front of the town-hall. Judges muffled in old +red curtains and holding big books in their hands pronounced sentence of +death. The mode of execution varied with the place. Sometimes it was +burning, sometimes drowning, sometimes decapitation. In the last case the +effigy was provided with tubes of blood, which spouted gore at the +critical moment, making a profound impression on the minds of children, +some of whom wept bitterly at the sight. Meantime the onlookers uttered +piercing cries and appeared to be plunged in the deepest grief. The +proceedings generally wound up in the evening with a ball, which the young +married people were obliged to provide for the public entertainment; +otherwise their slumbers were apt to be disturbed by the discordant notes +of a cat's concert chanted under their windows.(610) + +(M178) In Normandy on the evening of Ash Wednesday it used to be the +custom to hold a celebration called the Burial of Shrove Tuesday. A +squalid effigy scantily clothed in rags, a battered old hat crushed down +on his dirty face, his great round paunch stuffed with straw, represented +the disreputable old rake who after a long course of dissipation was now +about to suffer for his sins. Hoisted on the shoulders of a sturdy fellow, +who pretended to stagger under the burden, this popular personification of +the Carnival promenaded the streets for the last time in a manner the +reverse of triumphal. Preceded by a drummer and accompanied by a jeering +rabble, among whom the urchins and all the tag-rag and bobtail of the town +mustered in great force, the figure was carried about by the flickering +light of torches to the discordant din of shovels and tongs, pots and +pans, horns and kettles, mingled with hootings, groans, and hisses. From +time to time the procession halted, and a champion of morality accused the +broken-down old sinner of all the excesses he had committed and for which +he was now about to be burned alive. The culprit, having nothing to urge +in his own defence, was thrown on a heap of straw, a torch was put to it, +and a great blaze shot up, to the delight of the children who frisked +round it screaming out some old popular verses about the death of the +Carnival. Sometimes the effigy was rolled down the slope of a hill before +being burnt.(611) At Saint-Lo the ragged effigy of Shrove Tuesday was +followed by his widow, a big burly lout dressed as a woman with a crape +veil, who emitted sounds of lamentation and woe in a stentorian voice. +After being carried about the streets on a litter attended by a crowd of +maskers, the figure was thrown into the River Vire. The final scene has +been graphically described by Madame Octave Feuillet as she witnessed it +in her childhood some fifty years ago. "My parents invited friends to see, +from the top of the tower of Jeanne Couillard, the funeral procession +passing. It was there that, quaffing lemonade--the only refreshment allowed +because of the fast--we witnessed at nightfall a spectacle of which I shall +always preserve a lively recollection. At our feet flowed the Vire under +its old stone bridge. On the middle of the bridge lay the figure of Shrove +Tuesday on a litter of leaves, surrounded by scores of maskers dancing, +singing, and carrying torches. Some of them in their motley costumes ran +along the parapet like fiends. The rest, worn out with their revels, sat +on the posts and dozed. Soon the dancing stopped, and some of the troop, +seizing a torch, set fire to the effigy, after which they flung it into +the river with redoubled shouts and clamour. The man of straw, soaked with +resin, floated away burning down the stream of the Vire, lighting up with +its funeral fires the woods on the bank and the battlements of the old +castle in which Louis XI. and Francis I. had slept. When the last glimmer +of the blazing phantom had vanished, like a falling star, at the end of +the valley, every one withdrew, crowd and maskers alike, and we quitted +the ramparts with our guests. As we returned home my father sang gaily the +old popular song:-- + + + _"__Shrove Tuesday is dead and his wife has got_ + _His shabby pocket-handkerchief and his cracked old pot._ + _Sing high, sing low,_ + _Shrove Tuesday will come back no more.__"_ + + +'He will come back! He will come back!' we cried warmly, clapping our +hands; and he did come back next year, and I think I should see him still +if, after the lapse of half a century, I returned to the land of my +birth."(612) + +(M179) In Upper Brittany the burial of Shrove Tuesday or the Carnival is +sometimes performed in a ceremonious manner. Four young fellows carry a +straw-man or one of their companions, and are followed by a funeral +procession. A show is made of depositing the pretended corpse in the +grave, after which the bystanders make believe to mourn, crying out in +melancholy tones, "Ah! my poor little Shrove Tuesday!" The boy who played +the part of Shrove Tuesday bears the name for the whole year.(613) At +Lesneven in Lower Brittany it was formerly the custom on Ash Wednesday to +burn a straw-man, covered with rags, after he had been promenaded about +the town. He was followed by a representative of Shrove Tuesday clothed +with sardines and cods' tails.(614) At Pontaven in Finistere an effigy +representing the Carnival used to be thrown from the quay into the sea on +the morning of Ash Wednesday.(615) At La Rochelle the porters and sailors +carried about a man of straw representing Shrove Tuesday, then burned it +on Ash Wednesday and flung the ashes into the sea.(616) In Saintonge and +Aunis, which correspond roughly to the modern departments of Charente, +children used to drown or burn a figure of the Carnival on the morning of +Ash Wednesday.(617) The beginning of Lent in England was formerly marked +by a custom which has now fallen into disuse. A figure, made up of straw +and cast-off clothes, was drawn or carried through the streets amid much +noise and merriment; after which it was either burnt, shot at, or thrown +down a chimney. This image went by the name of Jack o' Lent, and was by +some supposed to represent Judas Iscariot.(618) + +(M180) A Bohemian form of the custom of "Burying the Carnival" has been +already described.(619) The following Swabian form is obviously similar. +In the neighbourhood of Tuebingen on Shrove Tuesday a straw-man, called the +Shrovetide Bear, is made up; he is dressed in a pair of old trousers, and +a fresh black-pudding or two squirts filled with blood are inserted in his +neck. After a formal condemnation he is beheaded, laid in a coffin, and on +Ash Wednesday is buried in the churchyard. This is called "Burying the +Carnival."(620) Amongst some of the Saxons of Transylvania the Carnival is +hanged. Thus at Braller on Ash Wednesday or Shrove Tuesday two white and +two chestnut horses draw a sledge on which is placed a straw-man swathed +in a white cloth; beside him is a cart-wheel which is kept turning round. +Two lads disguised as old men follow the sledge lamenting. The rest of the +village lads, mounted on horseback and decked with ribbons, accompany the +procession, which is headed by two girls crowned with evergreen and drawn +in a waggon or sledge. A trial is held under a tree, at which lads +disguised as soldiers pronounce sentence of death. The two old men try to +rescue the straw-man and to fly with him, but to no purpose; he is caught +by the two girls and handed over to the executioner, who hangs him on a +tree. In vain the old men try to climb up the tree and take him down; they +always tumble down, and at last in despair they throw themselves on the +ground and weep and howl for the hanged man. An official then makes a +speech in which he declares that the Carnival was condemned to death +because he had done them harm, by wearing out their shoes and making them +tired and sleepy.(621) At the "Burial of Carnival" in Lechrain, a man +dressed as a woman in black clothes is carried on a litter or bier by four +men; he is lamented over by men disguised as women in black clothes, then +thrown down before the village dung-heap, drenched with water, buried in +the dung-heap, and covered with straw.(622) Similarly in Schoerzingen, near +Schoemberg, the "Carnival (Shrovetide) Fool" was carried all about the +village on a bier, preceded by a man dressed in white, and followed by a +devil who was dressed in black and carried chains, which he clanked. One +of the train collected gifts. After the procession the Fool was buried +under straw and dung.(623) In Rottweil the "Carnival Fool" is made drunk +on Ash Wednesday and buried under straw amid loud lamentation.(624) In +Wurmlingen the Fool is represented by a young fellow enveloped in straw, +who is led about the village by a rope as a "Bear" on Shrove Tuesday and +the preceding day. He dances to the flute. Then on Ash Wednesday a +straw-man is made, placed on a trough, carried out of the village to the +sound of drums and mournful music, and buried in a field.(625) In Altdorf +and Weingarten on Ash Wednesday the Fool, represented by a straw-man, is +carried about and then thrown into the water to the accompaniment of +melancholy music. In other villages of Swabia the part of fool is played +by a live person, who is thrown into the water after being carried about +in procession.(626) At Balwe, in Westphalia, a straw-man is made on Shrove +Tuesday and thrown into the river amid rejoicings. This is called, as +usual, "Burying the Carnival."(627) At Burgebrach, in Bavaria, it used to +be customary, as a public pastime, to hold a sort of court of justice on +Ash Wednesday. The accused was a straw-man, on whom was laid the burden of +all the notorious transgressions that had been committed in the course of +the year. Twelve chosen maidens sat in judgment and pronounced sentence, +and a single advocate pleaded the cause of the public scapegoat. Finally +the effigy was burnt, and thus all the offences that had created a scandal +in the community during the year were symbolically atoned for. We can +hardly doubt that this custom of burning a straw-man on Ash Wednesday for +the sins of a whole year is only another form of the custom, observed on +the same day in so many other places, of burning an effigy which is +supposed to embody and to be responsible for all the excesses committed +during the licence of the Carnival. + +(M181) In Greece a ceremony of the same sort was witnessed at Pylos by Mr. +E. L. Tilton in 1895. On the evening of the first day of the Greek Lent, +which fell that year on the twenty-fifth of February, an effigy with a +grotesque mask for a face was borne about the streets on a bier, preceded +by a mock priest with long white beard. Other functionaries surrounded the +bier and two torch-bearers walked in advance. The procession moved slowly +to melancholy music played by a pipe and drum. A final halt was made in +the public square, where a circular space was kept clear of the surging +crowd. Here a bonfire was kindled, and round it the priest led a wild +dance to the same droning music. When the frenzy was at its height, the +chief performer put tow on the effigy and set fire to it, and while it +blazed he resumed his mad career, brandishing torches and tearing off his +venerable beard to add fuel to the flames.(628) On the evening of Shrove +Tuesday the Esthonians make a straw figure called _metsik_ or +"wood-spirit"; one year it is dressed with a man's coat and hat, next year +with a hood and a petticoat. This figure is stuck on a long pole, carried +across the boundary of the village with loud cries of joy, and fastened to +the top of a tree in the wood. The ceremony is believed to be a protection +against all kinds of misfortune.(629) + +(M182) Sometimes at these Shrovetide or Lenten ceremonies the resurrection +of the pretended dead person is enacted. Thus, in some parts of Swabia on +Shrove Tuesday Dr. Iron-Beard professes to bleed a sick man, who thereupon +falls as dead to the ground; but the doctor at last restores him to life +by blowing air into him through a tube.(630) In the Harz Mountains, when +Carnival is over, a man is laid on a baking-trough and carried with dirges +to a grave; but in the grave a glass of brandy is buried instead of the +man. A speech is delivered and then the people return to the village-green +or meeting-place, where they smoke the long clay pipes which are +distributed at funerals. On the morning of Shrove Tuesday in the following +year the brandy is dug up and the festival begins by every one tasting the +spirit which, as the phrase goes, has come to life again.(631) + + + + +§ 4. Carrying out Death. + + +(M183) The ceremony of "Carrying out Death" presents much the same +features as "Burying the Carnival"; except that the carrying out of Death +is generally followed by a ceremony, or at least accompanied by a +profession, of bringing in Summer, Spring, or Life. Thus in Middle +Franken, a province of Bavaria, on the fourth Sunday in Lent, the village +urchins used to make a straw effigy of Death, which they carried about +with burlesque pomp through the streets, and afterwards burned with loud +cries beyond the bounds.(632) The Frankish custom is thus described by a +writer of the sixteenth century: "At Mid-Lent, the season when the church +bids us rejoice, the young people of my native country make a straw image +of Death, and fastening it to a pole carry it with shouts to the +neighbouring villages. By some they are kindly received, and after being +refreshed with milk, peas, and dried pears, the usual food of that season, +are sent home again. Others, however, treat them with anything but +hospitality; for, looking on them as harbingers of misfortune, to wit of +death, they drive them from their boundaries with weapons and +insults."(633) In the villages near Erlangen, when the fourth Sunday in +Lent came round, the peasant girls used to dress themselves in all their +finery with flowers in their hair. Thus attired they repaired to the +neighbouring town, carrying puppets which were adorned with leaves and +covered with white cloths. These they took from house to house in pairs, +stopping at every door where they expected to receive something, and +singing a few lines in which they announced that it was Mid-Lent and that +they were about to throw Death into the water. When they had collected +some trifling gratuities they went to the river Regnitz and flung the +puppets representing Death into the stream. This was done to ensure a +fruitful and prosperous year; further, it was considered a safeguard +against pestilence and sudden death.(634) At Nuremberg girls of seven to +eighteen years of age go through the streets bearing a little open coffin, +in which is a doll hidden under a shroud. Others carry a beech branch, +with an apple fastened to it for a head, in an open box. They sing, "We +carry Death into the water, it is well," or "We carry Death into the +water, carry him in and out again."(635) In other parts of Bavaria the +ceremony took place on the Saturday before the fifth Sunday in Lent, and +the performers were boys or girls, according to the sex of the last person +who died in the village. The figure was thrown into water or buried in a +secret place, for example under moss in the forest, that no one might find +Death again. Then early on Sunday morning the children went from house to +house singing a song in which they announced the glad tidings that Death +was gone.(636) In some parts of Bavaria down to 1780 it was believed that +a fatal epidemic would ensue if the custom of "Carrying out Death" were +not observed.(637) + +(M184) In some villages of Thueringen, on the fourth Sunday of Lent, the +children used to carry a puppet of birchen twigs through the village, and +then threw it into a pool, while they sang, "We carry the old Death out +behind the herdsman's old house; we have got Summer, and Kroden's (?) +power is destroyed."(638) At Debschwitz or Dobschwitz, near Gera, the +ceremony of "Driving out Death" is or was annually observed on the first +of March. The young people make up a figure of straw or the like +materials, dress it in old clothes, which they have begged from houses in +the village, and carry it out and throw it into the river. On returning to +the village they break the good news to the people, and receive eggs and +other victuals as a reward. The ceremony is or was supposed to purify the +village and to protect the inhabitants from sickness and plague. In other +villages of Thueringen, in which the population was originally Slavonic, +the carrying out of the puppet is accompanied with the singing of a song, +which begins, "Now we carry Death out of the village and Spring into the +village."(639) At the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the +eighteenth century the custom was observed in Thueringen as follows. The +boys and girls made an effigy of straw or the like materials, but the +shape of the figure varied from year to year. In one year it would +represent an old man, in the next an old woman, in the third a young man, +and in the fourth a maiden, and the dress of the figure varied with the +character it personated. There used to be a sharp contest as to where the +effigy was to be made, for the people thought that the house from which it +was carried forth would not be visited with death that year. Having been +made, the puppet was fastened to a pole and carried by a girl if it +represented an old man, but by a boy if it represented an old woman. Thus +it was borne in procession, the young people holding sticks in their hands +and singing that they were driving out Death. When they came to water they +threw the effigy into it and ran hastily back, fearing that it might jump +on their shoulders and wring their necks. They also took care not to touch +it, lest it should dry them up. On their return they beat the cattle with +the sticks, believing that this would make the animals fat or fruitful. +Afterwards they visited the house or houses from which they had carried +the image of Death, where they received a dole of half-boiled peas.(640) +The custom of "Carrying out Death" was practised also in Saxony. At +Leipsic the bastards and public women used to make a straw effigy of Death +every year at Mid-Lent. This they carried through all the streets with +songs and shewed it to the young married women. Finally they threw it into +the river Parthe. By this ceremony they professed to make the young wives +fruitful, to purify the city, and to protect the inhabitants for that year +from plague and other epidemics.(641) + +(M185) Ceremonies of the same sort are observed at Mid-Lent in Silesia. +Thus in many places the grown girls with the help of the young men dress +up a straw figure with women's clothes and carry it out of the village +towards the setting sun. At the boundary they strip it of its clothes, +tear it in pieces, and scatter the fragments about the fields. This is +called "Burying Death." As they carry the image out, they sing that they +are about to bury death under an oak, that he may depart from the people. +Sometimes the song runs that they are bearing death over hill and dale to +return no more. In the Polish neighbourhood of Gross-Strehlitz the puppet +is called Goik. It is carried on horseback and thrown into the nearest +water. The people think that the ceremony protects them from sickness of +every sort in the coming year. In the districts of Wohlau and Guhrau the +image of Death used to be thrown over the boundary of the next village. +But as the neighbours feared to receive the ill-omened figure, they were +on the look-out to repel it, and hard knocks were often exchanged between +the two parties. In some Polish parts of Upper Silesia the effigy, +representing an old woman, goes by the name of Marzana, the goddess of +death. It is made in the house where the last death occurred, and is +carried on a pole to the boundary of the village, where it is thrown into +a pond or burnt. At Polkwitz the custom of "Carrying out Death" fell into +abeyance; but an outbreak of fatal sickness which followed the +intermission of the ceremony induced the people to resume it.(642) Some of +the Moravians of Silesia make three puppets on this occasion: one +represents a man, another a bride, and the third a bridesmaid. The first +is carried by the boys, the two last by the girls. Formerly these effigies +were torn to pieces at a brook; now they are brought home again.(643) In +this last custom two of the figures are clearly conceived as bride and +bridegroom. + +(M186) In Bohemia the children go out with a straw-man, representing +Death, to the end of the village, where they burn it, singing-- + + + "_Now carry we Death out of the village,_ + _The new Summer into the village,_ + _Welcome, dear Summer,_ + _Green little corn._"(644) + + +At Tabor in Bohemia the figure of Death is carried out of the town and +flung from a high rock into the water, while they sing-- + + + "_Death swims on the water,_ + _Summer will soon be here,_ + _We carried Death away for you,_ + _We brought the Summer._ + _And do thou, O holy Marketa,_ + _Give us a good year_ + _For wheat and for rye._"(645) + + +In other parts of Bohemia they carry Death to the end of the village, +singing-- + + + "_We carry Death out of the village,_ + _And the New Year into the village._ + _Dear Spring, we bid you welcome,_ + _Green grass, we bid you welcome._" + + +Behind the village they erect a pyre, on which they burn the straw figure, +reviling and scoffing at it the while. Then they return, singing-- + + + "_We have carried away Death,_ + _And brought Life back._ + _He has taken up his quarters in the village,_ + _Therefore sing joyous songs._"(646) + + +(M187) In some German villages of Moravia, as in Jassnitz and Seitendorf, +the young folk assemble on the third Sunday in Lent and fashion a +straw-man, who is generally adorned with a fur cap and a pair of old +leathern hose, if such are to be had. The effigy is then hoisted on a pole +and carried by the lads and lasses out into the open fields. On the way +they sing a song, in which it is said that they are carrying Death away +and bringing dear Summer into the house, and with Summer the May and the +flowers. On reaching an appointed place they dance in a circle round the +effigy with loud shouts and screams, then suddenly rush at it and tear it +to pieces with their hands. Lastly, the pieces are thrown together in a +heap, the pole is broken, and fire is set to the whole. While it burns the +troop dances merrily round it, rejoicing at the victory won by Spring; and +when the fire has nearly died out they go to the householders to beg for a +present of eggs wherewith to hold a feast, taking care to give as a reason +for the request that they have carried Death out and away.(647) + +(M188) The preceding evidence shews that the effigy of Death is often +regarded with fear and treated with marks of hatred and abhorrence. Thus +the anxiety of the villagers to transfer the figure from their own to +their neighbours' land, and the reluctance of the latter to receive the +ominous guest, are proof enough of the dread which it inspires. Further, +in Lusatia and Silesia the puppet is sometimes made to look in at the +window of a house, and it is believed that some one in the house will die +within the year unless his life is redeemed by the payment of money.(648) +Again, after throwing the effigy away, the bearers sometimes run home lest +Death should follow them, and if one of them falls in running, it is +believed that he will die within the year.(649) At Chrudim, in Bohemia, +the figure of Death is made out of a cross, with a head and mask stuck at +the top, and a shirt stretched out on it. On the fifth Sunday in Lent the +boys take this effigy to the nearest brook or pool, and standing in a line +throw it into the water. Then they all plunge in after it; but as soon as +it is caught no one more may enter the water. The boy who did not enter +the water or entered it last will die within the year, and he is obliged +to carry the Death back to the village. The effigy is then burned.(650) On +the other hand, it is believed that no one will die within the year in the +house out of which the figure of Death has been carried;(651) and the +village out of which Death has been driven is sometimes supposed to be +protected against sickness and plague.(652) In some villages of Austrian +Silesia on the Saturday before Dead Sunday an effigy is made of old +clothes, hay, and straw, for the purpose of driving Death out of the +village. On Sunday the people, armed with sticks and straps, assemble +before the house where the figure is lodged. Four lads then draw the +effigy by cords through the village amid exultant shouts, while all the +others beat it with their sticks and straps. On reaching a field which +belongs to a neighbouring village they lay down the figure, cudgel it +soundly, and scatter the fragments over the field. The people believe that +the village from which Death has been thus carried out will be safe from +any infectious disease for the whole year.(653) In Slavonia the figure of +Death is cudgelled and then rent in two.(654) In Poland the effigy, made +of hemp and straw, is flung into a pool or swamp with the words "The devil +take thee."(655) + + + + +§ 5. Sawing the Old Woman. + + +(M189) The custom of "Sawing the Old Woman," which is or used to be +observed in Italy, France, and Spain on the fourth Sunday in Lent, is +doubtless, as Grimm supposes, merely another form of the custom of +"Carrying out Death." A great hideous figure representing the oldest woman +of the village was dragged out and sawn in two, amid a prodigious noise +made with cow-bells, pots and pans, and so forth.(656) In Palermo the +representation used to be still more lifelike. At Mid-Lent an old woman +was drawn through the streets on a cart, attended by two men dressed in +the costume of the _Compagnia de' Bianchi_, a society or religious order +whose function it was to attend and console prisoners condemned to death. +A scaffold was erected in a public square; the old woman mounted it, and +two mock executioners proceeded, amid a storm of huzzas and hand-clapping, +to saw through her neck, or rather through a bladder of blood which had +been previously fitted to it. The blood gushed out and the old woman +pretended to swoon and die. The last of these mock executions took place +in 1737.(657) In Florence, during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, +the Old Woman was represented by a figure stuffed with walnuts and dried +figs and fastened to the top of a ladder. At Mid-Lent this effigy was sawn +through the middle under the _Loggie_ of the Mercato Nuovo, and as the +dried fruits tumbled out they were scrambled for by the crowd. A trace of +the custom is still to be seen in the practice, observed by urchins, of +secretly pinning paper ladders to the shoulders of women of the lower +classes who happen to shew themselves in the streets on the morning of +Mid-Lent.(658) A similar custom is observed by urchins in Rome; and at +Naples on the first of April boys cut strips of cloth into the shape of +saws, smear them with gypsum, and strike passers-by with their "saws" on +the back, thus imprinting the figure of a saw upon their clothes.(659) At +Montalto, in Calabria, boys go about at Mid-Lent with little saws made of +cane and jeer at old people, who therefore generally stay indoors on that +day. The Calabrian women meet together at this time and feast on figs, +chestnuts, honey, and so forth; this they call "Sawing the Old Woman"--a +reminiscence probably of a custom like the old Florentine one.(660) In +Lombardy the Thursday of Mid-Lent is known as the Day of the Old Wives +(_il giorno delle vecchie_). The children run about crying out for the +oldest woman, whom they wish to burn; and failing to possess themselves of +the original, they make a puppet representing her, which in the evening is +consumed on a bonfire. On the Lake of Garda the blaze of light flaring at +different points on the hills produces a picturesque effect.(661) + +(M190) In Berry, a region of central France, the custom of "Sawing the Old +Woman" at Mid-Lent used to be popular, and has probably not wholly died +out even now. Here the name of "Fairs of the old Wives" was given to +certain fairs held in Lent, at which children were made to believe that +they would see the Old Woman of Mid-Lent split or sawn asunder. At +Argenton and Cluis-Dessus, when Mid-Lent has come, children of ten or +twelve years of age scour the streets with wooden swords, pursue the old +crones whom they meet, and even try to break into the houses where ancient +dames are known to live. Passers-by, who see the children thus engaged, +say, "They are going to cut or sabre the Old Woman." Meantime the old +wives take care to keep out of sight as much as possible. When the +children of Cluis-Dessus have gone their rounds, and the day draws towards +evening, they repair to Cluis-Dessous, where they mould a rude figure of +an old woman out of clay, hew it in pieces with their wooden swords, and +throw the bits into the river. At Bourges on the same day, an effigy +representing an old woman was formerly sawn in two on the crier's stone in +a public square. About the middle of the nineteenth century, in the same +town and on the same day, hundreds of children assembled at the Hospital +"to see the old woman split or divided in two." A religious service was +held in the building on this occasion, which attracted many idlers. In the +streets it was not uncommon to hear cries of "Let us cleave the Old Wife! +let us cleave the oldest woman of the ward!" At Tulle, on the day of +Mid-Lent, the people used to enquire after the oldest woman in the town, +and to tell the children that at mid-day punctually she was to be sawn in +two at Puy-Saint-Clair.(662) + +(M191) In Barcelona on the fourth Sunday in Lent boys run about the +streets, some with saws, others with billets of wood, others again with +cloths in which they collect gratuities. They sing a song in which it is +said that they are looking for the oldest woman of the city for the +purpose of sawing her in two in honour of Mid-Lent; at last, pretending to +have found her, they saw something in two and burn it. A like custom is +found amongst the South Slavs. In Lent the Croats tell their children that +at noon an old woman is being sawn in two outside the gates; and in +Carniola also the saying is current that at Mid-Lent an old woman is taken +out of the village and sawn in two. The North Slavonian expression for +keeping Mid-Lent is _babu rezati_, that is, "sawing the Old Wife."(663) In +the Graubuenden Canton of Switzerland, on _Invocavit_ Sunday, grown people +used to assemble in the ale-house and there saw in two a straw puppet +which they called Mrs. Winter or the Ugly Woman (_bagorda_), while the +children in the streets teased each other with wooden saws.(664) + +(M192) Among the gypsies of south-eastern Europe the custom of "sawing the +Old Woman in two" is observed in a very graphic form, not at Mid-Lent, but +on the afternoon of Palm Sunday. The Old Woman, represented by a puppet of +straw dressed in women's clothes, is laid across a beam in some open place +and beaten with clubs by the assembled gypsies, after which it is sawn in +two by a young man and a maiden, both of whom wear a disguise. While the +effigy is being sawn through, the rest of the company dance round it +singing songs of various sorts. The remains of the figure are finally +burnt, and the ashes thrown into a stream. The ceremony is supposed by the +gypsies themselves to be observed in honour of a certain Shadow Queen; +hence Palm Sunday goes by the name Shadow Day among all the strolling +gypsies of eastern and southern Europe. According to the popular belief, +this Shadow Queen, of whom the gypsies of to-day have only a very vague +and confused conception, vanishes underground at the appearance of spring, +but comes forth again at the beginning of winter to plague mankind during +that inclement season with sickness, hunger, and death. Among the vagrant +gypsies of southern Hungary the effigy is regarded as an expiatory and +thank offering made to the Shadow Queen for having spared the people +during the winter. In Transylvania the gypsies who live in tents clothe +the puppet in the cast-off garments of the woman who has last become a +widow. The widow herself gives the clothes gladly for this purpose, +because she thinks that being burnt they will pass into the possession of +her departed husband, who will thus have no excuse for returning from the +spirit-land to visit her. The ashes are thrown by the Transylvanian +gypsies on the first graveyard that they pass on their journey.(665) In +this gypsy custom the equivalence of the effigy of the Old Woman to the +effigy of Death in the customs we have just been considering comes out +very clearly, thus strongly confirming the opinion of Grimm that the +practice of "sawing the Old Woman" is only another form of the practice of +"carrying out Death." + +(M193) The same perhaps may be said of a somewhat different form which the +custom assumes in parts of Spain and Italy. In Spain it is sometimes usual +on Ash Wednesday to fashion an effigy of stucco or pasteboard representing +a hideous old woman with seven legs, wearing a crown of sorrel and +spinach, and holding a sceptre in her hand. The seven skinny legs stand +for the seven weeks of the Lenten fast which begins on Ash Wednesday. This +monster, proclaimed Queen of Lent amid the chanting of lugubrious songs, +is carried in triumph through the crowded streets and public places. On +reaching the principal square the people put out their torches, cease +shouting, and disperse. Their revels are now ended, and they take a vow to +hold no more merry meetings until all the legs of the old woman have +fallen one by one and she has been beheaded. The effigy is then deposited +in some place appointed for the purpose, where the public is admitted to +see it during the whole of Lent. Every week, on Saturday evening, one of +the Queen's legs is pulled off; and on Holy Saturday, when from every +church tower the joyous clangour of the bells proclaims the glad tidings +that Christ is risen, the mutilated body of the fallen Queen is carried +with great solemnity to the principal square and publicly beheaded.(666) + +(M194) A custom of the same sort prevails in various parts of Italy. Thus +in the Abruzzi they hang a puppet of tow, representing Lent, to a cord, +which stretches across the street from one window to another. Seven +feathers are attached to the figure, and in its hand it grasps a distaff +and spindle. Every Saturday in Lent one of the seven feathers is plucked +out, and on Holy Saturday, while the bells are ringing, a string of +chestnuts is burnt for the purpose of sending Lent and its meagre fare to +the devil. In houses, too, it is usual to amuse children by cutting the +figure of an old woman with seven legs out of pasteboard and sticking it +beside the chimney. The old woman represents Lent, and her seven legs are +the seven weeks of the fast; every Saturday one of the legs is amputated. +At Mid-Lent the effigy is cut through the middle, and the part of which +the feet have been already amputated is removed. Sometimes the figure is +stuffed with sweets, dried fruits, and halfpence, for which the street +urchins scramble when the puppet is bisected.(667) In the Sorrentine +peninsula Lent is similarly represented by the effigy of a wrinkled old +hag with a spindle and distaff, which is fastened to a balcony or a +window. Attached to the figure is an orange with as many feathers stuck +into it as there are weeks in Lent, and at the end of each week one of the +feathers is plucked out. At Mid-Lent the puppet is sawn in two, an +operation which is sometimes attended by a gush of blood from a bladder +concealed in the interior of the figure. Any old women who shew themselves +in the streets on that day are exposed to jibes and jests, and may be +warned that they ought to remain at home.(668) At Castellammare, to the +south of Naples, an English lady observed a rude puppet dangling from a +string which spanned one of the narrow streets of the old town, being +fastened at either end, high overhead, to the upper part of the +many-storied houses. The puppet, about a foot long, was dressed all in +black, rather like a nun, and from the skirts projected five or six +feathers which bore a certain resemblance to legs. A peasant being asked +what these things meant, replied with Italian vagueness, "It is only +Lent." Further enquiries, however, elicited the information that at the +end of every week in Lent one of the feather legs was pulled off the +puppet, and that the puppet was finally destroyed on the last day of +Lent.(669) + + + + +§ 6. Bringing in Summer. + + +(M195) In the preceding ceremonies the return of Spring, Summer, or Life, +as a sequel to the expulsion of Death, is only implied or at most +announced. In the following ceremonies it is plainly enacted. Thus in some +parts of Bohemia the effigy of Death is drowned by being thrown into the +water at sunset; then the girls go out into the wood and cut down a young +tree with a green crown, hang a doll dressed as a woman on it, deck the +whole with green, red, and white ribbons, and march in procession with +their _Lito_ (Summer) into the village, collecting gifts and singing-- + + + "_Death swims in the water,_ + _Spring comes to visit us,_ + _With eggs that are red,_ + _With yellow pancakes._ + _We carried Death out of the village,_ + _We are carrying Summer into the village._"(670) + + +In many Silesian villages the figure of Death, after being treated with +respect, is stript of its clothes and flung with curses into the water, or +torn to pieces in a field. Then the young folk repair to a wood, cut down +a small fir-tree, peel the trunk, and deck it with festoons of evergreens, +paper roses, painted egg-shells, motley bits of cloth, and so forth. The +tree thus adorned is called Summer or May. Boys carry it from house to +house singing appropriate songs and begging for presents. Among their +songs is the following:-- + + + "_We have carried Death out,_ + _We are bringing the dear Summer back,_ + _The Summer and the May_ + _And all the flowers gay._" + + +Sometimes they also bring back from the wood a prettily adorned figure, +which goes by the name of Summer, May, or the Bride; in the Polish +districts it is called Dziewanna, the goddess of spring.(671) + +At Eisenach on the fourth Sunday in Lent young people used to fasten a +straw-man, representing Death, to a wheel, which they trundled to the top +of a hill. Then setting fire to the figure they allowed it and the wheel +to roll down the slope. Next they cut a tall fir-tree, tricked it out with +ribbons, and set it up in the plain. The men then climbed the tree to +fetch down the ribbons.(672) In Upper Lusatia the figure of Death, made of +straw and rags, is dressed in a veil furnished by the last bride and a +shirt provided by the house in which the last death took place. Thus +arrayed the figure is stuck on the end of a long pole and carried at full +speed by the tallest and strongest girl, while the rest pelt the effigy +with sticks and stones. Whoever hits it will be sure to live through the +year. In this way Death is carried out of the village and thrown into the +water or over the boundary of the next village. On their way home each one +breaks a green branch and carries it gaily with him till he reaches the +village, when he throws it away. Sometimes the young people of the next +village, upon whose land the figure has been thrown, run after them and +hurl it back, not wishing to have Death among them. Hence the two parties +occasionally come to blows.(673) + +(M196) In these cases Death is represented by the puppet which is thrown +away, Summer or Life by the branches or trees which are brought back. But +sometimes a new potency of life seems to be attributed to the image of +Death itself, and by a kind of resurrection it becomes the instrument of +the general revival. Thus in some parts of Lusatia women alone are +concerned in carrying out Death, and suffer no male to meddle with it. +Attired in mourning, which they wear the whole day, they make a puppet of +straw, clothe it in a white shirt, and give it a broom in one hand and a +scythe in the other. Singing songs and pursued by urchins throwing stones, +they carry the puppet to the village boundary, where they tear it in +pieces. Then they cut down a fine tree, hang the shirt on it, and carry it +home singing.(674) On the Feast of Ascension the Saxons of Braller, a +village of Transylvania, not far from Hermannstadt, observe the ceremony +of "Carrying out Death" in the following manner. After morning service all +the school-girls repair to the house of one of their number, and there +dress up the Death. This is done by tying a threshed-out sheaf of corn +into a rough semblance of a head and body, while the arms are simulated by +a broomstick thrust through it horizontally. The figure is dressed in the +holiday attire of a young peasant woman, with a red hood, silver brooches, +and a profusion of ribbons at the arms and breast. The girls bustle at +their work, for soon the bells will be ringing to vespers, and the Death +must be ready in time to be placed at the open window, that all the people +may see it on their way to church. When vespers are over, the longed-for +moment has come for the first procession with the Death to begin; it is a +privilege that belongs to the school-girls alone. Two of the older girls +seize the figure by the arms and walk in front: all the rest follow two +and two. Boys may take no part in the procession, but they troop after it +gazing with open-mouthed admiration at the "beautiful Death." So the +procession goes through all the streets of the village, the girls singing +the old hymn that begins-- + + + "_Gott mein Vater, deine Liebe_ + _Reicht so weit der Himmel ist,_" + + +to a tune that differs from the ordinary one. When the procession has +wound its way through every street, the girls go to another house, and +having shut the door against the eager prying crowd of boys who follow at +their heels, they strip the Death and pass the naked truss of straw out of +the window to the boys, who pounce on it, run out of the village with it +without singing, and fling the dilapidated effigy into the neighbouring +brook. This done, the second scene of the little drama begins. While the +boys were carrying away the Death out of the village, the girls remained +in the house, and one of them is now dressed in all the finery which had +been worn by the effigy. Thus arrayed she is led in procession through all +the streets to the singing of the same hymn as before. When the procession +is over they all betake themselves to the house of the girl who played the +leading part. Here a feast awaits them from which also the boys are +excluded. It is a popular belief that the children may safely begin to eat +gooseberries and other fruit after the day on which Death has thus been +carried out; for Death, which up to that time lurked especially in +gooseberries, is now destroyed. Further, they may now bathe with impunity +out of doors.(675) Very similar is the ceremony which, down to recent +years, was observed in some of the German villages of Moravia. Boys and +girls met on the afternoon of the first Sunday after Easter, and together +fashioned a puppet of straw to represent Death. Decked with +bright-coloured ribbons and cloths, and fastened to the top of a long +pole, the effigy was then borne with singing and clamour to the nearest +height, where it was stript of its gay attire and thrown or rolled down +the slope. One of the girls was next dressed in the gauds taken from the +effigy of Death, and with her at its head the procession moved back to the +village. In some villages the practice is to bury the effigy in the place +that has the most evil reputation of all the country-side: others throw it +into running water.(676) + +(M197) In the Lusatian ceremony described above,(677) the tree which is +brought home after the destruction of the figure of Death is plainly +equivalent to the trees or branches which, in the preceding customs, were +brought back as representatives of Summer or Life, after Death had been +thrown away or destroyed. But the transference of the shirt worn by the +effigy of Death to the tree clearly indicates that the tree is a kind of +revivification, in a new form, of the destroyed effigy.(678) This comes +out also in the Transylvanian and Moravian customs: the dressing of a girl +in the clothes worn by the Death, and the leading her about the village to +the same song which had been sung when the Death was being carried about, +shew that she is intended to be a kind of resuscitation of the being whose +effigy has just been destroyed. These examples therefore suggest that the +Death whose demolition is represented in these ceremonies cannot be +regarded as the purely destructive agent which we understand by Death. If +the tree which is brought back as an embodiment of the reviving vegetation +of spring is clothed in the shirt worn by the Death which has just been +destroyed, the object certainly cannot be to check and counteract the +revival of vegetation: it can only be to foster and promote it. Therefore +the being which has just been destroyed--the so-called Death--must be +supposed to be endowed with a vivifying and quickening influence, which it +can communicate to the vegetable and even the animal world. This +ascription of a life-giving virtue to the figure of Death is put beyond a +doubt by the custom, observed in some places, of taking pieces of the +straw effigy of Death and placing them in the fields to make the crops +grow, or in the manger to make the cattle thrive. Thus in Spachendorf, a +village of Austrian Silesia, the figure of Death, made of straw, +brushwood, and rags, is carried with wild songs to an open place outside +the village and there burned, and while it is burning a general struggle +takes place for the pieces, which are pulled out of the flames with bare +hands. Each one who secures a fragment of the effigy ties it to a branch +of the largest tree in his garden, or buries it in his field, in the +belief that this causes the crops to grow better.(679) In the Troppau +district of Austrian Silesia the straw figure which the boys make on the +fourth Sunday in Lent is dressed by the girls in woman's clothes and hung +with ribbons, necklace, and garlands. Attached to a long pole it is +carried out of the village, followed by a troop of young people of both +sexes, who alternately frolic, lament, and sing songs. Arrived at its +destination--a field outside the village--the figure is stripped of its +clothes and ornaments; then the crowd rushes at it and tears it to bits, +scuffling for the fragments. Every one tries to get a wisp of the straw of +which the effigy was made, because such a wisp, placed in the manger, is +believed to make the cattle thrive.(680) Or the straw is put in the hens' +nest, it being supposed that this prevents the hens from carrying away +their eggs, and makes them brood much better.(681) The same attribution of +a fertilising power to the figure of Death appears in the belief that if +the bearers of the figure, after throwing it away, beat cattle with their +sticks, this will render the beasts fat or prolific.(682) Perhaps the +sticks had been previously used to beat the Death,(683) and so had +acquired the fertilising power ascribed to the effigy. We have seen, too, +that at Leipsic a straw effigy of Death was shewn to young wives to make +them fruitful.(684) + +(M198) It seems hardly possible to separate from the May-trees the trees +or branches which are brought into the village after the destruction of +the Death. The bearers who bring them in profess to be bringing in the +Summer,(685) therefore the trees obviously represent the Summer; indeed in +Silesia they are commonly called the Summer or the May,(686) and the doll +which is sometimes attached to the Summer-tree is a duplicate +representative of the Summer, just as the May is sometimes represented at +the same time by a May-tree and a May Lady.(687) Further, the Summer-trees +are adorned like May-trees with ribbons and so on; like May-trees, when +large, they are planted in the ground and climbed up; and like May-trees, +when small, they are carried from door to door by boys or girls singing +songs and collecting money.(688) And as if to demonstrate the identity of +the two sets of customs the bearers of the Summer-tree sometimes announce +that they are bringing in the Summer and the May.(689) The customs, +therefore, of bringing in the May and bringing in the Summer are +essentially the same; and the Summer-tree is merely another form of the +May-tree, the only distinction (besides that of name) being in the time at +which they are respectively brought in; for while the May-tree is usually +fetched in on the first of May or at Whitsuntide, the Summer-tree is +fetched in on the fourth Sunday in Lent. Therefore, if the May-tree is an +embodiment of the tree-spirit or spirit of vegetation, the Summer-tree +must likewise be an embodiment of the tree-spirit or spirit of vegetation. +But we have seen that the Summer-tree is in some cases a revivification of +the effigy of Death. It follows, therefore, that in these cases the effigy +called Death must be an embodiment of the tree-spirit or spirit of +vegetation. This inference is confirmed, first, by the vivifying and +fertilising influence which the fragments of the effigy of Death are +believed to exercise both on vegetable and on animal life;(690) for this +influence, as we saw in the first part of this work,(691) is supposed to +be a special attribute of the tree-spirit. It is confirmed, secondly, by +observing that the effigy of Death is sometimes decked with leaves or made +of twigs, branches, hemp, or a threshed-out sheaf of corn;(692) and that +sometimes it is hung on a little tree and so carried about by girls +collecting money,(693) just as is done with the May-tree and the May Lady, +and with the Summer-tree and the doll attached to it. In short we are +driven to regard the expulsion of Death and the bringing in of Summer as, +in some cases at least, merely another form of that death and revival of +the spirit of vegetation in spring which we saw enacted in the killing and +resurrection of the Wild Man.(694) The burial and resurrection of the +Carnival is probably another way of expressing the same idea. The +interment of the representative of the Carnival under a dung-heap(695) is +natural, if he is supposed to possess a quickening and fertilising +influence like that ascribed to the effigy of Death. The Esthonians, +indeed, who carry the straw figure out of the village in the usual way on +Shrove Tuesday, do not call it the Carnival, but the Wood-spirit +(_Metsik_), and they clearly indicate the identity of the effigy with the +wood-spirit by fixing it to the top of a tree in the wood, where it +remains for a year, and is besought almost daily with prayers and +offerings to protect the herds; for like a true wood-spirit the _Metsik_ +is a patron of cattle. Sometimes the _Metsik_ is made of sheaves of +corn.(696) + +(M199) Thus we may fairly conjecture that the names Carnival, Death, and +Summer are comparatively late and inadequate expressions for the beings +personified or embodied in the customs with which we have been dealing. +The very abstractness of the names bespeaks a modern origin; for the +personification of times and seasons like the Carnival and Summer, or of +an abstract notion like death, is hardly primitive. But the ceremonies +themselves bear the stamp of a dateless antiquity; therefore we can hardly +help supposing that in their origin the ideas which they embodied were of +a more simple and concrete order. The notion of a tree, perhaps of a +particular kind of tree (for some savages have no word for tree in +general), or even of an individual tree, is sufficiently concrete to +supply a basis from which by a gradual process of generalisation the wider +idea of a spirit of vegetation might be reached. But this general idea of +vegetation would readily be confounded with the season in which it +manifests itself; hence the substitution of Spring, Summer, or May for the +tree-spirit or spirit of vegetation would be easy and natural. Again, the +concrete notion of the dying tree or dying vegetation would by a similar +process of generalisation glide into a notion of death in general; so that +the practice of carrying out the dying or dead vegetation in spring, as a +preliminary to its revival, would in time widen out into an attempt to +banish Death in general from the village or district. The view that in +these spring ceremonies Death meant originally the dying or dead +vegetation of winter has the high support of W. Mannhardt; and he confirms +it by the analogy of the name Death as applied to the spirit of the ripe +corn. Commonly the spirit of the ripe corn is conceived, not as dead, but +as old, and hence it goes by the name of the Old Man or the Old Woman. But +in some places the last sheaf cut at harvest, which is generally believed +to be the seat of the corn spirit, is called "the Dead One": children are +warned against entering the corn-fields because Death sits in the corn; +and, in a game played by Saxon children in Transylvania at the maize +harvest, Death is represented by a child completely covered with maize +leaves.(697) + + + + +§ 7. Battle of Summer and Winter. + + +(M200) Sometimes in the popular customs of the peasantry the contrast +between the dormant powers of vegetation in winter and their awakening +vitality in spring takes the form of a dramatic contest between actors who +play the parts respectively of Winter and Summer. Thus in the towns of +Sweden on May Day two troops of young men on horseback used to meet as if +for mortal combat. One of them was led by a representative of Winter clad +in furs, who threw snowballs and ice in order to prolong the cold weather. +The other troop was commanded by a representative of Summer covered with +fresh leaves and flowers. In the sham fight which followed the party of +Summer came off victorious, and the ceremony ended with a feast.(698) +Again, in the region of the middle Rhine, a representative of Summer clad +in ivy combats a representative of Winter clad in straw or moss and +finally gains a victory over him. The vanquished foe is thrown to the +ground and stripped of his casing of straw, which is torn to pieces and +scattered about, while the youthful comrades of the two champions sing a +song to commemorate the defeat of Winter by Summer. Afterwards they carry +about a summer garland or branch and collect gifts of eggs and bacon from +house to house. Sometimes the champion who acts the part of Summer is +dressed in leaves and flowers and wears a chaplet of flowers on his head. +In the Palatinate this mimic conflict takes place on the fourth Sunday in +Lent.(699) All over Bavaria the same drama used to be acted on the same +day, and it was still kept up in some places down to the middle of the +nineteenth century or later. While Summer appeared clad all in green, +decked with fluttering ribbons, and carrying a branch in blossom or a +little tree hung with apples and pears, Winter was muffled up in cap and +mantle of fur and bore in his hand a snow-shovel or a flail. Accompanied +by their respective retinues dressed in corresponding attire, they went +through all the streets of the village, halting before the houses and +singing staves of old songs, for which they received presents of bread, +eggs, and fruit. Finally, after a short struggle, Winter was beaten by +Summer and ducked in the village well or driven out of the village with +shouts and laughter into the forest.(700) In some parts of Bavaria the +boys who play the parts of Winter and Summer act their little drama in +every house that they visit, and engage in a war of words before they come +to blows, each of them vaunting the pleasures and benefits of the season +he represents and disparaging those of the other. The dialogue is in +verse. A few couplets may serve as specimens:-- + + + SUMMER + + "_Green, green are meadows wherever I pass_ + _And the mowers are busy among the grass._" + + WINTER + + "_White, white are the meadows wherever I go,_ + _And the sledges glide hissing across the snow._" + + SUMMER + + "_I'll climb up the tree where the red cherries glow,_ + _And Winter can stand by himself down below._" + + WINTER + + "_With you I will climb the cherry-tree tall,_ + _Its branches will kindle the fire in the hall._" + + SUMMER + + "_O Winter, you are most uncivil_ + _To send old women to the devil._" + + WINTER + + "_By that I make them warm and mellow,_ + _So let them bawl and let them bellow._" + + SUMMER + + "_I am the Summer in white array,_ + _I'm chasing the Winter far, far away._" + + WINTER + + "_I am the Winter in mantle of furs,_ + _I'm chasing the Summer o'er bushes and burs._" + + SUMMER + + "_Just say a word more, and I'll have you banned_ + _At once and for ever from Summer land._" + + WINTER + + "_O Summer, for all your bluster and brag,_ + _You'd not dare to carry a hen in a bag._" + + SUMMER + + "_O Winter, your chatter no more can I stay,_ + _I'll kick and I'll cuff you without delay._" + + +Here ensues a scuffle between the two little boys, in which Summer gets +the best of it, and turns Winter out of the house. But soon the beaten +champion of Winter peeps in at the door and says with a humbled and +crestfallen air:-- + + + "_O Summer, dear Summer, I'm under your ban,_ + _For you are the master and I am the man._" + + +To which Summer replies:-- + + + "_'Tis a capital notion, an excellent plan,_ + _If I am the master and you are the man._ + _So come, my dear Winter, and give me your hand,_ + _We'll travel together to Summer Land._"(701) + + +(M201) At Goepfritz in Lower Austria, two men personating Summer and +Winter used to go from house to house on Shrove Tuesday, and were +everywhere welcomed by the children with great delight. The representative +of Summer was clad in white and bore a sickle; his comrade, who played the +part of Winter, had a fur-cap on his head, his arms and legs were swathed +in straw, and he carried a flail. In every house they sang verses +alternately.(702) At Droemling in Brunswick, down to the present time, the +contest between Summer and Winter is acted every year at Whitsuntide by a +troop of boys and a troop of girls. The boys rush singing, shouting, and +ringing bells from house to house to drive Winter away; after them come +the girls singing softly and led by a May Bride, all in bright dresses and +decked with flowers and garlands to represent the genial advent of spring. +Formerly the part of Winter was played by a straw-man which the boys +carried with them; now it is acted by a real man in disguise.(703) In +Wachtl and Brodek, a German village and a little German town of Moravia, +encompassed by Slavonic people on every side, the great change that comes +over the earth in spring is still annually mimicked. The long village of +Wachtl, with its trim houses and farmyards, nestles in a valley surrounded +by pretty pine-woods. Here, on a day in spring, about the time of the +vernal equinox, an elderly man with a long flaxen beard may be seen going +from door to door. He is muffled in furs, with warm gloves on his hands +and a bearskin cap on his head, and he carries a threshing flail. This is +the personification of Winter. With him goes a younger beardless man +dressed in white, wearing a straw hat trimmed with gay ribbons on his +head, and carrying a decorated May-tree in his hands. This is Summer. At +every house they receive a friendly greeting and recite a long dialogue in +verse, Winter punctuating his discourse with his flail, which he brings +down with rude vigour on the backs of all within reach.(704) Amongst the +Slavonic population near Ungarisch Brod, in Moravia, the ceremony took a +somewhat different form. Girls dressed in green marched in procession +round a May-tree. Then two others, one in white and one in green, stepped +up to the tree and engaged in a dialogue. Finally, the girl in white was +driven away, but returned afterwards clothed in green, and the festival +ended with a dance.(705) + +(M202) On May Day it used to be customary in almost all the large parishes +of the Isle of Man to choose from among the daughters of the wealthiest +farmers a young maiden to be Queen of May. She was dressed in the gayest +attire and attended by about twenty others, who were called maids of +honour. She had also a young man for her captain with a number of inferior +officers under him. In opposition to her was the Queen of Winter, a man +attired as a woman, with woollen hoods, fur tippets, and loaded with the +warmest and heaviest clothes, one upon another. Her attendants were +habited in like manner, and she too had a captain and troop for her +defence. Thus representing respectively the beauty of spring and the +deformity of winter they set forth from their different quarters, the one +preceded by the dulcet music of flutes and violins, the other by the harsh +clatter of cleavers and tongs. In this array they marched till they met on +a common, where the trains of the two mimic sovereigns engaged in a mock +battle. If the Queen of Winter's forces got the better of their +adversaries and took her rival prisoner, the captive Queen of Summer was +ransomed for as much as would pay the expenses of the festival. After this +ceremony, Winter and her company retired and diverted themselves in a +barn, while the partisans of Summer danced on the green, concluding the +evening with a feast, at which the Queen and her maids sat at one table +and the captain and his troop at another. In later times the person of the +Queen of May was exempt from capture, but one of her slippers was +substituted and, if captured, had to be ransomed to defray the expenses of +the pageant. The procession of the Summer, which was subsequently composed +of little girls and called the Maceboard, outlived that of its rival the +Winter for some years; but both have now long been things of the +past.(706) + +(M203) Among the central Esquimaux of North America the contest between +representatives of summer and winter, which in Europe has long degenerated +into a mere dramatic performance, is still kept up as a magical ceremony +of which the avowed intention is to influence the weather. In autumn, when +storms announce the approach of the dismal Arctic winter, the Esquimaux +divide themselves into two parties called respectively the ptarmigans and +the ducks, the ptarmigans comprising all persons born in winter, and the +ducks all persons born in summer. A long rope of sealskin is then +stretched out, and each party laying hold of one end of it seeks by +tugging with might and main to drag the other party over to its side. If +the ptarmigans get the worst of it, then summer has won the game and fine +weather may be expected to prevail through the winter.(707) In this +ceremony it is clearly assumed that persons born in summer have a natural +affinity with warm weather, and therefore possess a power of mitigating +the rigour of winter, whereas persons born in winter are, so to say, of a +cold and frosty disposition and can thereby exert a refrigerating +influence on the temperature of the air. In spite of this natural +antipathy between the representatives of summer and winter, we may be +allowed to conjecture that in the grand tug of war the ptarmigans do not +pull at the rope with the same hearty goodwill as the ducks, and that thus +the genial influence of summer commonly prevails over the harsh austerity +of winter. The Indians of Canada seem also to have imagined that persons +are endowed with distinct natural capacities according as they are born in +summer or winter, and they turned the distinction to account in much the +same fashion as the Esquimaux. When they wearied of the long frosts and +the deep snow which kept them prisoners in their huts and prevented them +from hunting, all of them who were born in summer rushed out of their +houses armed with burning brands and torches which they hurled against the +One who makes Winter; and this was supposed to produce the desired effect +of mitigating the cold. But those Indians who were born in winter +abstained from taking part in the ceremony, for they believed that if they +meddled with it the cold would increase instead of diminishing.(708) We +may surmise that in the corresponding European ceremonies, which have just +been described, it was formerly deemed necessary that the actors, who +played the parts of Winter and Summer, should have been born in the +seasons which they personated. + +(M204) Every year on the Monday after the spring equinox boys and girls +attired in gay costume flock at a very early hour into Zurich from the +country. The girls, generally clad in white, are called _Mareielis_ and +carry two and two a small May tree or a wreath decked with flowers and +ribbons. Thus they go in bands from house to house, jingling the bells +which are attached to the wreath and singing a song, in which it is said +that the _Mareielis_ dance because the leaves and the grass are green and +everything is bursting into blossom. In this way they are supposed to +celebrate the triumph of Summer and to proclaim his coming. The boys are +called _Boeggen_. They generally wear over their ordinary clothes a shirt +decked with many-coloured ribbons, tall pointed paper caps on their heads, +and masks before their faces. In this quaint costume they cart about +through the streets effigies made of straw and other combustible materials +which are supposed to represent Winter. At evening these effigies are +burned in various parts of the city.(709) The ceremony was witnessed at +Zurich on Monday, April 20th, 1903, by my friend Dr. J. Sutherland Black, +who has kindly furnished me with some notes on the subject. The effigy of +Winter was a gigantic figure composed in great part, as it seemed, of +cotton-wool. This was laid on a huge pyre, about thirty feet high, which +had been erected on the Stadthausplatz close to the lake. In presence of a +vast concourse of people fire was set to the pyre and all was soon in a +blaze, while the town bells rang a joyous peal. As the figure gradually +consumed in the flames, the mechanism enclosed in its interior produced a +variety of grotesque effects, such as the gushing forth of bowels. At last +nothing remained of the effigy but the iron backbone; the crowd slowly +dispersed, and the fire brigade set to work to quench the smouldering +embers.(710) In this ceremony the contest between Summer and Winter is +rather implied than expressed, but the significance of the rite is +unmistakable. + + + + +§ 8. Death and Resurrection of Kostrubonko. + + +(M205) In Russia funeral ceremonies like those of "Burying the Carnival" +and "Carrying out Death" are celebrated under the names, not of Death or +the Carnival, but of certain mythic figures, Kostrubonko, Kostroma, +Kupalo, Lada, and Yarilo. These Russian ceremonies are observed both in +spring and at midsummer. Thus "in Little Russia it used to be the custom +at Eastertide to celebrate the funeral of a being called Kostrubonko, the +deity of the spring. A circle was formed of singers who moved slowly +around a girl who lay on the ground as if dead, and as they went they +sang,-- + + + '_Dead, dead is our Kostrubonko!_ + _Dead, dead is our dear one!_' + + +until the girl suddenly sprang up, on which the chorus joyfully +exclaimed,-- + + + '_Come to life, come to life has our Kostrubonko!_ + _Come to life, come to life has our dear one!_' "(711) + + +On the Eve of St. John (Midsummer Eve) a figure of Kupalo is made of straw +and "is dressed in woman's clothes, with a necklace and a floral crown. +Then a tree is felled, and, after being decked with ribbons, is set up on +some chosen spot. Near this tree, to which they give the name of Marena +[Winter or Death], the straw figure is placed, together with a table, on +which stand spirits and viands. Afterwards a bonfire is lit, and the young +men and maidens jump over it in couples, carrying the figure with them. On +the next day they strip the tree and the figure of their ornaments, and +throw them both into a stream."(712) On St. Peter's Day, the twenty-ninth +of June, or on the following Sunday, "the Funeral of Kostroma" or of Lada +or of Yarilo is celebrated in Russia. In the Governments of Penza and +Simbirsk the funeral used to be represented as follows. A bonfire was +kindled on the twenty-eighth of June, and on the next day the maidens +chose one of their number to play the part of Kostroma. Her companions +saluted her with deep obeisances, placed her on a board, and carried her +to the bank of a stream. There they bathed her in the water, while the +oldest girl made a basket of lime-tree bark and beat it like a drum. Then +they returned to the village and ended the day with processions, games, +and dances.(713) In the Murom district Kostroma was represented by a straw +figure dressed in woman's clothes and flowers. This was laid in a trough +and carried with songs to the bank of a lake or river. Here the crowd +divided into two sides, of which the one attacked and the other defended +the figure. At last the assailants gained the day, stripped the figure of +its dress and ornaments, tore it in pieces, trod the straw of which it was +made under foot, and flung it into the stream; while the defenders of the +figure hid their faces in their hands and pretended to bewail the death of +Kostroma.(714) In the district of Kostroma the burial of Yarilo was +celebrated on the twenty-ninth or thirtieth of June. The people chose an +old man and gave him a small coffin containing a Priapus-like figure +representing Yarilo. This he carried out of the town, followed by women +chanting dirges and expressing by their gestures grief and despair. In the +open fields a grave was dug, and into it the figure was lowered amid +weeping and wailing, after which games and dances were begun, "calling to +mind the funeral games celebrated in old times by the pagan +Slavonians."(715) In Little Russia the figure of Yarilo was laid in a +coffin and carried through the streets after sunset surrounded by drunken +women, who kept repeating mournfully, "He is dead! he is dead!" The men +lifted and shook the figure as if they were trying to recall the dead man +to life. Then they said to the women, "Women, weep not. I know what is +sweeter than honey." But the women continued to lament and chant, as they +do at funerals. "Of what was he guilty? He was so good. He will arise no +more. O how shall we part from thee? What is life without thee? Arise, if +only for a brief hour. But he rises not, he rises not." At last the Yarilo +was buried in a grave.(716) + + + + +§ 9. Death and Revival of Vegetation. + + +(M206) These Russian customs are plainly of the same nature as those which +in Austria and Germany are known as "Carrying out Death." Therefore if the +interpretation here adopted of the latter is right, the Russian +Kostrubonko, Yarilo, and the rest must also have been originally +embodiments of the spirit of vegetation, and their death must have been +regarded as a necessary preliminary to their revival. The revival as a +sequel to the death is enacted in the first of the ceremonies described, +the death and resurrection of Kostrubonko. The reason why in some of these +Russian ceremonies the death of the spirit of vegetation is celebrated at +midsummer may be that the decline of summer is dated from Midsummer Day, +after which the days begin to shorten, and the sun sets out on his +downward journey-- + + + "_To the darksome hollows_ + _Where the frosts of winter lie._" + + +Such a turning-point of the year, when vegetation might be thought to +share the incipient though still almost imperceptible decay of summer, +might very well be chosen by primitive man as a fit moment for resorting +to those magic rites by which he hopes to stay the decline, or at least to +ensure the revival, of plant life. + +(M207) But while the death of vegetation appears to have been represented +in all, and its revival in some, of these spring and midsummer ceremonies, +there are features in some of them which can hardly be explained on this +hypothesis alone. The solemn funeral, the lamentations, and the mourning +attire, which often characterise these rites, are indeed appropriate at +the death of the beneficent spirit of vegetation. But what shall we say of +the glee with which the effigy is often carried out, of the sticks and +stones with which it is assailed, and the taunts and curses which are +hurled at it? What shall we say of the dread of the effigy evinced by the +haste with which the bearers scamper home as soon as they have thrown it +away, and by the belief that some one must soon die in any house into +which it has looked? This dread might perhaps be explained by a belief +that there is a certain infectiousness in the dead spirit of vegetation +which renders its approach dangerous. But this explanation, besides being +rather strained, does not cover the rejoicings which often attend the +carrying out of Death. We must therefore recognise two distinct and +seemingly opposite features in these ceremonies: on the one hand, sorrow +for the death, and affection and respect for the dead; on the other hand, +fear and hatred of the dead, and rejoicings at his death. How the former +of these features is to be explained I have attempted to shew: how the +latter came to be so closely associated with the former is a question +which I shall try to answer in the sequel. + +(M208) Before we quit these European customs to go farther afield, it will +be well to notice that occasionally the expulsion of Death or of a mythic +being is conducted without any visible representative of the personage +expelled. Thus at Koenigshain, near Goerlitz in Silesia, all the villagers, +young and old, used to go out with straw torches to the top of a +neighbouring hill, called _Todtenstein_ (Death-stone), where they lit +their torches, and so returned home singing, "We have driven out Death, we +are bringing back Summer."(717) In Albania young people light torches of +resinous wood on Easter Eve, and march in procession through the village +brandishing them. At last they throw the torches into the river, saying, +"Ha, Kore, we fling you into the river, like these torches, that you may +return no more." Some say that the intention of the ceremony is to drive +out winter; but Kore is conceived as a malignant being who devours +children.(718) + + + + +§ 10. Analogous Rites in India. + + +(M209) In the Kanagra district of India there is a custom observed by +young girls in spring which closely resembles some of the European spring +ceremonies just described. It is called the _Rali Ka mela_, or fair of +Rali, the _Rali_ being a small painted earthen image of Siva or Parvati. +The custom is in vogue all over the Kanagra district, and its celebration, +which is entirely confined to young girls, lasts through most of Chet +(March-April) up to the Sankrant of Baisakh (April). On a morning in March +all the young girls of the village take small baskets of _dub_ grass and +flowers to an appointed place, where they throw them in a heap. Round this +heap they stand in a circle and sing. This goes on every day for ten days, +till the heap of grass and flowers has reached a fair height. Then they +cut in the jungle two branches, each with three prongs at one end, and +place them, prongs downwards, over the heap of flowers, so as to make two +tripods or pyramids. On the single uppermost points of these branches they +get an image-maker to construct two clay images, one to represent Siva, +and the other Parvati. The girls then divide themselves into two parties, +one for Siva and one for Parvati, and marry the images in the usual way, +leaving out no part of the ceremony. After the marriage they have a feast, +the cost of which is defrayed by contributions solicited from their +parents. Then at the next Sankrant (Baisakh) they all go together to the +river-side, throw the images into a deep pool, and weep over the place, as +though they were performing funeral obsequies. The boys of the +neighbourhood often tease them by diving after the images, bringing them +up, and waving them about while the girls are crying over them. The object +of the fair is said to be to secure a good husband.(719) + +(M210) That in this Indian ceremony the deities Siva and Parvati are +conceived as spirits of vegetation seems to be proved by the placing of +their images on branches over a heap of grass and flowers. Here, as often +in European folk-custom, the divinities of vegetation are represented in +duplicate, by plants and by puppets. The marriage of these Indian deities +in spring corresponds to the European ceremonies in which the marriage of +the vernal spirits of vegetation is represented by the King and Queen of +May, the May Bride, Bridegroom of the May, and so forth.(720) The throwing +of the images into the water, and the mourning for them, are the +equivalents of the European customs of throwing the dead spirit of +vegetation under the name of Death, Yarilo, Kostroma, and the rest, into +the water and lamenting over it. Again, in India, as often in Europe, the +rite is performed exclusively by females. The notion that the ceremony +helps to procure husbands for the girls can be explained by the quickening +and fertilising influence which the spirit of vegetation is believed to +exert upon the life of man as well as of plants.(721) + + + + +§ 11. The Magic Spring. + + +(M211) The general explanation which we have been led to adopt of these +and many similar ceremonies is that they are, or were in their origin, +magical rites intended to ensure the revival of nature in spring. The +means by which they were supposed to effect this end were imitation and +sympathy. Led astray by his ignorance of the true causes of things, +primitive man believed that in order to produce the great phenomena of +nature on which his life depended he had only to imitate them, and that +immediately by a secret sympathy or mystic influence the little drama +which he acted in forest glade or mountain dell, on desert plain or +wind-swept shore, would be taken up and repeated by mightier actors on a +vaster stage. He fancied that by masquerading in leaves and flowers he +helped the bare earth to clothe herself with verdure, and that by playing +the death and burial of winter he drove that gloomy season away, and made +smooth the path for the footsteps of returning spring. If we find it hard +to throw ourselves even in fancy into a mental condition in which such +things seem possible, we can more easily picture to ourselves the anxiety +which the savage, when he first began to lift his thoughts above the +satisfaction of his merely animal wants, and to meditate on the causes of +things, may have felt as to the continued operation of what we now call +the laws of nature. To us, familiar as we are with the conception of the +uniformity and regularity with which the great cosmic phenomena succeed +each other, there seems little ground for apprehension that the causes +which produce these effects will cease to operate, at least within the +near future. But this confidence in the stability of nature is bred only +by the experience which comes of wide observation and long tradition; and +the savage, with his narrow sphere of observation and his short-lived +tradition, lacks the very elements of that experience which alone could +set his mind at rest in face of the ever-changing and often menacing +aspects of nature. No wonder, therefore, that he is thrown into a panic by +an eclipse, and thinks that the sun or the moon would surely perish, if he +did not raise a clamour and shoot his puny shafts into the air to defend +the luminaries from the monster who threatens to devour them. No wonder he +is terrified when in the darkness of night a streak of sky is suddenly +illumined by the flash of a meteor, or the whole expanse of the celestial +arch glows with the fitful light of the Northern Streamers.(722) Even +phenomena which recur at fixed and uniform intervals may be viewed by him +with apprehension, before he has come to recognise the orderliness of +their recurrence. The speed or slowness of his recognition of such +periodic or cyclic changes in nature will depend largely on the length of +the particular cycle. The cycle, for example, of day and night is +everywhere, except in the polar regions, so short and hence so frequent +that men probably soon ceased to discompose themselves seriously as to the +chance of its failing to recur, though the ancient Egyptians, as we have +seen, daily wrought enchantments to bring back to the east in the morning +the fiery orb which had sunk at evening in the crimson west. But it was +far otherwise with the annual cycle of the seasons. To any man a year is a +considerable period, seeing that the number of our years is but few at the +best. To the primitive savage, with his short memory and imperfect means +of marking the flight of time, a year may well have been so long that he +failed to recognise it as a cycle at all, and watched the changing aspects +of earth and heaven with a perpetual wonder, alternately delighted and +alarmed, elated and cast down, according as the vicissitudes of light and +heat, of plant and animal life, ministered to his comfort or threatened +his existence. In autumn when the withered leaves were whirled about the +forest by the nipping blast, and he looked up at the bare boughs, could he +feel sure that they would ever be green again? As day by day the sun sank +lower and lower in the sky, could he be certain that the luminary would +ever retrace his heavenly road? Even the waning moon, whose pale sickle +rose thinner and thinner every night over the rim of the eastern horizon, +may have excited in his mind a fear lest, when it had wholly vanished, +there should be moons no more. + +(M212) These and a thousand such misgivings may have thronged the fancy +and troubled the peace of the man who first began to reflect on the +mysteries of the world he lived in, and to take thought for a more distant +future than the morrow. It was natural, therefore, that with such thoughts +and fears he should have done all that in him lay to bring back the faded +blossom to the bough, to swing the low sun of winter up to his old place +in the summer sky, and to restore its orbed fulness to the silver lamp of +the waning moon. We may smile at his vain endeavours if we please, but it +was only by making a long series of experiments, of which some were almost +inevitably doomed to failure, that man learned from experience the +futility of some of his attempted methods and the fruitfulness of others. +After all, magical ceremonies are nothing but experiments which have +failed and which continue to be repeated merely because, for reasons which +have already been indicated,(723) the operator is unaware of their +failure. With the advance of knowledge these ceremonies either cease to be +performed altogether or are kept up from force of habit long after the +intention with which they were instituted has been forgotten. Thus fallen +from their high estate, no longer regarded as solemn rites on the punctual +performance of which the welfare and even the life of the community +depend, they sink gradually to the level of simple pageants, mummeries, +and pastimes, till in the final stage of degeneration they are wholly +abandoned by older people, and, from having once been the most serious +occupation of the sage, become at last the idle sport of children. It is +in this final stage of decay that most of the old magical rites of our +European forefathers linger on at the present day, and even from this +their last retreat they are fast being swept away by the rising tide of +those multitudinous forces, moral, intellectual, and social, which are +bearing mankind onward to a new and unknown goal. We may feel some natural +regret at the disappearance of quaint customs and picturesque ceremonies, +which have preserved to an age often deemed dull and prosaic something of +the flavour and freshness of the olden time, some breath of the springtime +of the world; yet our regret will be lessened when we remember that these +pretty pageants, these now innocent diversions, had their origin in +ignorance and superstition; that if they are a record of human endeavour, +they are also a monument of fruitless ingenuity, of wasted labour, and of +blighted hopes; and that for all their gay trappings--their flowers, their +ribbons, and their music--they partake far more of tragedy than of farce. + +(M213) The interpretation which, following in the footsteps of W. +Mannhardt, I have attempted to give of these ceremonies has been not a +little confirmed by the discovery, made since this book was first written, +that the natives of Central Australia regularly practise magical +ceremonies for the purpose of awakening the dormant energies of nature at +the approach of what may be called the Australian spring. Nowhere +apparently are the alternations of the seasons more sudden and the +contrasts between them more striking than in the deserts of Central +Australia, where at the end of a long period of drought the sandy and +stony wilderness, over which the silence and desolation of death appear to +brood, is suddenly, after a few days of torrential rain, transformed into +a landscape smiling with verdure and peopled with teeming multitudes of +insects and lizards, of frogs and birds. The marvellous change which +passes over the face of nature at such times has been compared even by +European observers to the effect of magic;(724) no wonder, then, that the +savage should regard it as such in very deed. Now it is just when there is +promise of the approach of a good season that the natives of Central +Australia are wont especially to perform those magical ceremonies of which +the avowed intention is to multiply the plants and animals they use as +food.(725) These ceremonies, therefore, present a close analogy to the +spring customs of our European peasantry not only in the time of their +celebration, but also in their aim; for we can hardly doubt that in +instituting rites designed to assist the revival of plant life in spring +our primitive forefathers were moved, not by any sentimental wish to smell +at early violets, or pluck the rathe primrose, or watch yellow daffodils +dancing in the breeze, but by the very practical consideration, certainly +not formulated in abstract terms, that the life of man is inextricably +bound up with that of plants, and that if they were to perish he could not +survive. And as the faith of the Australian savage in the efficacy of his +magic rites is confirmed by observing that their performance is invariably +followed, sooner or later, by that increase of vegetable and animal life +which it is their object to produce, so, we may suppose, it was with +European savages in the olden time. The sight of the fresh green in brake +and thicket, of vernal flowers blowing on mossy banks, of swallows +arriving from the south, and of the sun mounting daily higher in the sky, +would be welcomed by them as so many visible signs that their enchantments +were indeed taking effect, and would inspire them with a cheerful +confidence that all was well with a world which they could thus mould to +suit their wishes. Only in autumn days, as summer slowly faded, would +their confidence again be dashed by doubts and misgivings at symptoms of +decay, which told how vain were all their efforts to stave off for ever +the approach of winter and of death. + + + + + +NOTE A. CHINESE INDIFFERENCE TO DEATH. + + +(M214) Lord Avebury kindly allows me to print the letter of Mr. M. W. +Lampson, referred to above (p. 146, note 1). It runs as follows:-- + + + FOREIGN OFFICE, _August 7, 1903_. + + DEAR LORD AVEBURY--As the result of enquiries I hear from a Mr. + Eames, a lawyer who practised for some years at Shanghai and has + considerable knowledge of Chinese matters, that for a small sum a + substitute can be found for execution. This is recognised by the + Chinese authorities, with certain exceptions, as for instance + parricide. It is even asserted that the local Taotai gains + pecuniarily by this arrangement, as he is as a rule not above + obtaining a substitute for the condemned man for a less sum than + was paid him by the latter. + + It is, I believe, part of the doctrine of Confucius that it is one + of the highest virtues to increase the family prosperity at the + expense of personal suffering. According to Eames, the Chinamen + [_sic_] looks upon execution in another man's stead in this light, + and consequently there is quite a competition for such a + "substitution." + + Should you wish to get more definite information, the address is: + W. Eames, Esq., c/o Norman Craig, Inner Temple, E.C. + + The only man in this department who has actually been out to China + is at present away. But on his return I will ask him about it.-- + + Yours sincerely, + MILES W. LAMPSON. + + +(M215) On this subject Lord Avebury had stated: "It is said that in China, +if a rich man is condemned to death, he can sometimes purchase a willing +substitute at a very small expense."(726) In regard to his authority for +this statement Lord Avebury wrote to me (August 10, 1903): "I believe my +previous information came from Sir T. Wade, but I have been unable to lay +my hand on his letter, and do not therefore like to state it as a fact." +Sir Thomas Wade was English Ambassador at Peking, and afterwards Professor +of Chinese at Cambridge. + +(M216) On the same subject Mr. Valentine Chirol, editor of the foreign +department of _The Times_, wrote to me as follows:-- + + + QUEEN ANNE'S MANSIONS, WESTMINSTER, S.W., + _August 21st, 1905_. + + DEAR SIR--I shall be very glad to do what I can to obtain for you + the information you require. It was a surprise to me to hear that + the accuracy of the statement was called in question. It is + certainly a matter of common report in China that the practice + exists. The difficulty, I conceive, will be to obtain evidence + enabling one to quote concrete cases. My own impression is that + the practice is quite justifiable according to Chinese ethics when + life is given up from motives of filial piety, that is to say in + order to relieve the wants of indigent parents, or to defray the + costs of ancestral rights [_sic_]. Your general thesis that life + is less valued and more readily sacrificed by some races than by + modern Europeans seems to be beyond dispute. Surely the Japanese + practice of _sepuku_, or _harikari_, as it is vulgarly called, is + a case in point. Life is risked, as in duelling, by Europeans, for + the mere point of honour, but it is never deliberately laid down + in satisfaction of the exigencies of the social code. I will send + you whatever information I can obtain when it reaches me, but that + will not of course be for some months.--Yours truly, + + VALENTINE CHIROL. + + _P.S._--A friend of mine who has just been here entirely confirms + my own belief as to the accuracy of your statement, and tells me + he has himself seen several Imperial Decrees in the _Peking + Gazette_, calling provincial authorities to order for having + allowed specific cases of substitution to occur, and ordering the + death penalty to be carried out in a more severe form on the + original culprits as an extra punishment for obtaining + substitutes. He has promised to look up some of these Impe. + Decrees on his return to China, and send me translations. I am + satisfied personally that his statement is conclusive. + + V. C. + + +On the same subject I have received the following letter from Mr. J. O. P. +Bland, for fourteen years correspondent of _The Times_ in China:-- + + + THE CLOCK HOUSE, SHEPPERTON, + _March 22nd, 1911_. + + DEAR PROFESSOR FRAZER--My friend Mr. Valentine Chirol, writing the + other day from Crete on his way East, asked me to communicate with + you on the subject of your letter of the 3rd ulto., namely, the + custom, alleged to exist in China, of procuring substitutes for + persons condemned to death, the substitutes' families or relatives + receiving compensation in cash. + + To speak of this as a custom is to exaggerate the frequency of a + class of incident which has undoubtedly been recorded in China and + of which there has been mention in Imperial Decrees. I am sorry to + say that I have not my file of the _Peking Gazette_ here, for + immediate reference, but I am writing to my friend Mr. Backhouse + in Peking, and have no doubt but that he will be able to give + chapter and verse of instances thus recorded. I had expected to + find cases of the kind recorded in Mr. Werner's recently-published + "Descriptive Sociology" of the Chinese (Spencerian publications), + but have not been able to do so in the absence of an index to that + voluminous work. More than one of the authors whom he quotes have + certainly referred to cases of substitution for death-sentence + prisoners. Parker, for instance ("China Past and Present," page + 378), asserts that substitutes were to be had in Canton at the + reasonable price of fifty taels (say L10). Dr. Matignon (in + "Superstition, Crime et Misere en Chine," page 113) says that + filial piety is a frequent motive. The negative opinion of + Professors Giles and de Groot is entitled to consideration, but + cannot be regarded as any more conclusive than the views expressed + by Professor Giles on the question of infanticide which are + outweighed by a mass of direct proof of eye-witnesses. + + In a country where men submit voluntarily to mutilation and grave + risk of death for a comparatively small gain to themselves and + their relatives, where women commit suicide in hundreds to escape + capture by invaders or strangers, where men and women alike + habitually sacrifice their life for the most trivial motives of + revenge or distress, it need not greatly surprise us that some + should be found, especially among the wretchedly poor class, + willing to give up their life in order to relieve their families + of want or otherwise to "acquire merit." + + The most important thing, I think, in expressing any opinion about + the Chinese, is to remember the great extent and heterogeneous + elements of the country, and to abstain from any sweeping + generalisations based on isolated acts or events.--Yours very + truly, + + J. O. P. BLAND. + + +As the practice in question involves a grave miscarriage of justice, the +discovery of which might entail serious consequences on the magistrate who +connived at it, we need not wonder that it is generally hushed up, and +that no instances of it should come to the ears of many Europeans resident +in China. My friend Professor H. A. Giles of Cambridge in conversation +expressed himself quite incredulous on the subject, and Professor J. J. M. +de Groot of Leyden wrote to me (January 31, 1902) to the same effect. The +Rev. Dr. W. T. A. Barber, Headmaster of the Leys School, Cambridge, and +formerly a missionary in China, wrote to me (January 30, 1902): "As to the +possibility that a man condemned to death may secure a substitute on +payment of a moderate sum of money, we used to hear that this was the +case; but I have no proof that would justify you in using the fact." +Another experienced missionary, the Rev. W. A. Cornaby, wrote to Dr. +Barber: "I have heard of no such custom in capital crimes. The man in +whose house a fire starts may, and often does, pay another to receive the +blows and three days in a cangue. But unless where 'foreign riots' were +the case, and a previously condemned criminal handy, I should hardly think +it possible. Every precaution is taken that no one is beheaded but the man +who cannot possibly be let off. The expense on the county mandarin is over +L100 in 'stationery expenses' with higher courts." On this I would observe +that if every execution costs the local mandarin so dear, he must be under +a strong temptation to get the expenses out of the prisoner whenever he +can do so without being detected. + +(M217) With regard to the custom, mentioned by Mr. Cornaby, of procuring +substitutes for corporal punishment, we are told that in China there are +men who earn a livelihood by being thrashed instead of the real culprits. +But they bribe the executioner to lay on lightly; otherwise their +constitution could not long resist the tear and wear of so exhausting a +profession.(727) Thus the theory and practice of vicarious suffering are +well understood in China. + + + + + +NOTE B. SWINGING AS A MAGICAL RITE. + + +(M218) The custom of swinging has been practised as a religious or rather +magical rite in various parts of the world, but it does not seem possible +to explain all the instances of it in the same way. People appear to have +resorted to the practice from different motives and with different ideas +of the benefit to be derived from it. In the text we have seen that the +Letts, and perhaps the Siamese, swing to make the crops grow tall.(728) +The same may be the intention of the ceremony whenever it is specially +observed at harvest festivals. Among the Buginese and Macassars of +Celebes, for example, it used to be the custom for young girls to swing +one after the other on these occasions.(729) At the great Dassera festival +of Nepaul, which immediately precedes the cutting of the rice, swings and +kites come into fashion among the young people of both sexes. The swings +are sometimes hung from boughs of trees, but generally from a cross-beam +supported on a framework of tall bamboos.(730) Among the Dyaks of Sarawak +a feast is held at the end of harvest, when the soul of the rice is +secured to prevent the crops from rotting away. On this occasion a number +of old women rock to and fro on a rude swing suspended from the +rafters.(731) A traveller in Sarawak has described how he saw many tall +swings erected and Dyaks swinging to and fro on them, sometimes ten or +twelve men together on one swing, while they chanted in monotonous, +dirge-like tones an invocation to the spirits that they would be pleased +to grant a plentiful harvest of sago and fruit and a good fishing +season.(732) + +(M219) In the East Indian island of Bengkali elaborate and costly +ceremonies are performed to ensure a good catch of fish. Among the rest an +hereditary priestess, who bears the royal title of Djindjang Rajah, works +herself up by means of the fumes of incense and so forth into that state +of mental disorder which with many people passes for a symptom of divine +inspiration. In this pious frame of mind she is led by her four handmaids +to a swing all covered with yellow and hung with golden bells, on which +she takes her seat amid the jingle of the bells. As she rocks gently to +and fro in the swing, she speaks in an unknown tongue to each of the +sixteen spirits who have to do with the fishing.(733) In order to procure +a plentiful supply of game the Tinneh Indians of North-West America +perform a magical ceremony which they call "the young man bounding or +tied." They pinion a man tightly, and having hung him by the head and +heels from the roof of the hut, rock him backwards and forwards.(734) + +(M220) Thus we see that people swing in order to procure a plentiful +supply of fish and game as well as good crops. In such cases the notion +seems to be that the ceremony promotes fertility, whether in the vegetable +or the animal kingdom; though why it should be supposed to do so, I +confess myself unable to explain. There seem to be some reasons for +thinking that the Indian rite of swinging on hooks run through the flesh +of the performer is also resorted to, at least in some cases, from a +belief in its fertilising virtue. Thus Hamilton tells us that at Karwar, +on the west coast of India, a feast is held at the end of May or beginning +of June in honour of the infernal gods, "with a divination or conjuration +to know the fate of the ensuing crop of corn." Men were hung from a pole +by means of tenter-hooks inserted in the flesh of their backs; and the +pole with the men dangling from it was then dragged for more than a mile +over ploughed ground from one sacred grove to another, preceded by a young +girl who carried a pot of fire on her head. When the second grove was +reached, the men were let down and taken off the hooks, and the girl fell +into the usual prophetic frenzy, after which she unfolded to the priests +the revelation with which she had just been favoured by the terrestrial +gods. In each of the groves a shapeless black stone, daubed with red lead +to stand for a mouth, eyes, and ears, appears to have represented the +indwelling divinity.(735) Sometimes this custom of swinging on hooks, +which is known among the Hindoos as _Churuk Puja_, seems to be intended to +propitiate demons. Some Santals asked Mr. V. Ball to be allowed to perform +it because their women and children were dying of sickness, and their +cattle were being killed by wild beasts; they believed that these +misfortunes befell them because the evil spirits had not been +appeased.(736) These same Santals celebrate a swinging festival of a less +barbarous sort about the month of February. Eight men sit in chairs and +rotate round posts in a sort of revolving swing, like the merry-go-rounds +which are so dear to children at English fairs.(737) At the Nauroz and Eed +festivals in Dardistan the women swing on ropes suspended from trees.(738) +During the rainy season in Behar young women swing in their houses, while +they sing songs appropriate to the season. The period during which they +indulge in this pastime, if a mere pastime it be, is strictly limited; it +begins with a festival which usually falls on the twenty-fifth of the +month Jeyt and ends with another festival which commonly takes place on +the twenty-fifth of the month Asin. No one would think of swinging at any +other time of the year.(739) It is possible that this last custom may be +nothing more than a pastime meant to while away some of the tedious hours +of the inclement season; but its limitation to a certain clearly-defined +portion of the year seems rather to point to a religious or magical +origin. Possibly the intention may once have been to drive away the rain. +We shall see immediately that swinging is sometimes resorted to for the +purpose of expelling the powers of evil. About the middle of March the +Hindoos observe a swinging festival of a different sort in honour of the +god Krishna, whose image is placed in the seat or cradle of a swing and +then, just when the dawn is breaking, rocked gently to and fro several +times. The same ceremony is repeated at noon and at sunset.(740) In the +Rigveda the sun is called, by a natural metaphor, "the golden swing in the +sky," and the expression helps us to understand a ceremony of Vedic India. +A priest sat in a swing and touched with the span of his right hand at +once the seat of the swing and the ground. In doing so he said, "The great +lord has united himself with the great lady, the god has united himself +with the goddess." Perhaps he meant to indicate in a graphic way that the +sun had reached that lowest point of its course where it was nearest to +the earth.(741) In this connexion it is of interest to note that in the +Esthonian celebration of St. John's Day or the summer solstice swings +play, along with bonfires, the most prominent part. Girls sit and swing +the whole night through, singing old songs to explain why they do so. For +legend tells of an Esthonian prince who wooed and won an Islandic +princess. But a wicked enchanter spirited away the lover to a desert +island, where he languished in captivity, till his lady-love contrived to +break the magic spell that bound him. Together they sailed home to +Esthonia, which they reached on St. John's Day, and burnt their ship, +resolved to stray no longer in far foreign lands. The swings in which the +Esthonian maidens still rock themselves on St. John's Day are said to +recall the ship in which the lovers tossed upon the stormy sea, and the +bonfires commemorate the burning of it. When the fires have died out, the +swings are laid aside and never used again either in the village or at the +solitary alehouse until spring comes round once more.(742) Here it is +natural to connect both swings and bonfires with the apparent course of +the sun, who reaches the highest and turning point of his orbit on St. +John's Day. Bonfires and swings perhaps were originally charms intended to +kindle and speed afresh on its heavenly road "the golden swing in the +sky." Among the Letts of South Livonia and Curland the summer solstice is +the occasion of a great festival of flowers, at which the people sing +songs with the constant refrain of _lihgo, lihgo_. It has been proposed to +derive the word _lihgo_ from the Lettish verb _ligot_, "to swing," with +reference to the sun swinging in the sky at this turning-point of his +course.(743) + +(M221) At Tengaroeng, in Eastern Borneo, the priests and priestesses +receive the inspiration of the spirits seated in swings and rocking +themselves to and fro. Thus suspended in the air they appear to be in a +peculiarly favourable position for catching the divine afflatus. One end +of the plank which forms the seat of the priest's swing is carved in the +rude likeness of a crocodile's head; the swing of the priestess is +similarly ornamented with a serpent's head.(744) + +(M222) Again, swings are used for the cure of sickness, but it is the +doctor who rocks himself in them, not the patient. In North Borneo the +Dyak medicine man will sometimes erect a swing in front of the sick man's +house and sway backwards and forwards on it for the purpose of kicking +away the disease, frightening away evil spirits, and catching the stray +soul of the sufferer.(745) Clearly in his passage through the air the +physician is likely to collide with the disease and the evil spirits, both +of which are sure to be loitering about in the neighbourhood of the +patient, and the rude shock thus given to the malady and the demons may +reasonably be expected to push or hustle them away. At Tengaroeng, in +Eastern Borneo, a traveller witnessed a ceremony for the expulsion of an +evil spirit in which swinging played a part. After four men in blue shirts +bespangled with stars, and wearing coronets of red cloth decorated with +beads and bells, had sought diligently for the devil, grabbling about on +the floor and grunting withal, three hideous hags dressed in faded red +petticoats were brought in with great pomp, carried on the shoulders of +Malays, and took their seats, amid solemn silence, on the cradle of a +swing, the ends of which were carved to represent the head and tail of a +crocodile. Not a sound escaped from the crowd of spectators during this +awe-inspiring ceremony; they regarded the business as most serious. The +venerable dames then rocked to and fro on the swing, fanning themselves +languidly with Chinese paper fans. At a later stage of the performance +they and three girls discharged burning arrows at a sort of altar of +banana leaves, maize, and grass. This completed the discomfiture of the +devil.(746) + +(M223) The Athenians in antiquity celebrated an annual festival of +swinging. Boards were hung from trees by ropes, and people sitting on them +swung to and fro, while they sang songs of a loose or voluptuous +character. The swinging went on both in public and private. Various +explanations were given of the custom; the most generally received was as +follows. When Bacchus came among men to make known to them the pleasures +of wine, he lodged with a certain Icarus or Icarius, to whom he revealed +the precious secret and bade him go forth and carry the glad tidings to +all the world. So Icarus loaded a waggon with wine-skins, and set out on +his travels, the dog Maera running beside him. He came to Attica, and +there fell in with shepherds tending their sheep, to whom he gave of the +wine. They drank greedily, but when some of them fell down dead drunk, +their companions thought the stranger had poisoned them with intent to +steal the sheep; so they knocked him on the head. The faithful dog ran +home and guided his master's daughter Erigone to the body. At sight of it +she was smitten with despair and hanged herself on a tree beside her dead +father, but not until she had prayed that, unless the Athenians should +avenge her sire's murder, their daughters might die the same death as she. +Her curse was fulfilled, for soon many Athenian damsels hanged themselves +for no obvious reason. An oracle informed the Athenians of the true cause +of this epidemic of suicide; so they sought out the bodies of the unhappy +pair and instituted the swinging festival to appease Erigone; and at the +vintage they offered the first of the grapes to her and her father.(747) + +(M224) Thus the swinging festival at Athens was regarded by the ancients +as an expiation for a suicide or suicides by hanging. This opinion is +strongly confirmed by a statement of Varro, that it was unlawful to +perform funeral rites in honour of persons who had died by hanging, but +that in their case such rites were replaced by a custom of swinging +images, as if in imitation of the death they had died.(748) Servius says +that the Athenians, failing to find the bodies of Icarius and Erigone on +earth, made a pretence of seeking them in the air by swinging on ropes +hung from trees; and he seems to have regarded the custom of swinging as a +purification by means of air.(749) This explanation probably comes very +near the truth; indeed if we substitute "souls" for "bodies" in the +wording of it we may almost accept it as exact. It might be thought that +the souls of persons who had died by hanging were, more than the souls of +the other dead, hovering in the air, since their bodies were suspended in +air at the moment of death. Hence it would be considered needful to purge +the air of these vagrant spirits, and this might be done by swinging +persons or things to and fro, in order that by their impact they might +disperse and drive away the baleful ghosts. Thus the custom would be +exactly analogous, on the one hand, to the practice of the Malay +medicine-man, who swings to and fro in front of the patient's house in +order to chase away the disease, or to frighten away evil spirits, or to +catch the stray soul of the sick man, and, on the other hand, to the +practice of the Central Australian aborigines who beat the air with their +weapons and hands in order to drive the lingering ghost away to the +grave.(750) At Rome swinging seems to have formed part of the great Latin +festival (_Feriae Latinae_), and its origin was traced to a search in the +air for the body or even the soul of King Latinus, who had disappeared +from earth after the battle with Mezentius, King of Caere.(751) + +(M225) Yet on the other hand there are circumstances which point to an +intimate association, both at Athens and Rome, of these swinging festivals +with an intention of promoting the growth of cultivated plants. Such +circumstances are the legendary connexion of the Athenian festival with +Bacchus, the custom of offering the first-fruits of the vintage to Erigone +and Icarius,(752) and at Rome the practice of hanging masks on trees at +the time of sowing(753) and in order to make the grapes grow better.(754) +Perhaps we can reconcile the two apparently discrepant effects attributed +to swinging as a means of expiation on the one side and of fertilisation +on the other, by supposing that in both cases the intention is to clear +the air of dangerous influences, whether these are ghosts of the unburied +dead or spiritual powers inimical to the growth of plants. Independent of +both appears to be the notion that the higher you swing the higher will +grow the crops.(755) This last is homoeopathic or imitative magic pure and +simple, without any admixture of the ideas of purification or expiation. + +(M226) In modern Greece and Italy the custom of swinging as a festal rite, +whatever its origin may be, is still observed in some places. At the small +village of Koukoura in Elis an English traveller observed peasants +swinging from a tree in honour of St. George, whose festival it was.(756) +On the Tuesday after Easter the maidens of Seriphos play their favourite +game of the swing. They hang a rope from one wall to another of the steep, +narrow, filthy street, and putting some clothes on it swing one after the +other, singing as they swing. Young men who try to pass are called upon to +pay toll in the shape of a penny, a song, and a swing. The words which the +youth sings are generally these: "The gold is swung, the silver is swung, +and swung too is my love with the golden hair"; to which the girl replies, +"Who is it that swings me that I may gild him with my favour, that I may +work him a fez all covered with pearls?"(757) In the Greek island of +Karpathos the villagers assemble at a given place on each of the four +Sundays before Easter, a swing is erected, and the women swing one after +the other, singing death wails such as they chant round the mimic tombs in +church on the night of Good Friday.(758) On Christmas Day peasant girls in +some villages of Calabria fasten ropes to iron rings in the ceiling and +swing on them, while they sing certain songs prescribed by custom for the +occasion. The practice is regarded not merely as an amusement but also as +an act of devotion.(759) "It is a custom in Cadiz, when Christmas comes, +to fasten swings in the courtyards of houses, and even in the houses +themselves when there is no room for them outside. In the evenings lads +and lasses assemble round the swings and pass the time happily in swinging +amid joyous songs and cries. The swings are taken down when Carnival is +come."(760) The observance of the custom at Christmas, that is, at the +winter solstice, suggests that in Calabria and Spain, as in Esthonia, the +pastime may originally have been a magical rite designed to assist the sun +in climbing the steep ascent to the top of the summer sky. If this were +so, we might surmise that the gold and the golden hair mentioned by youths +and maidens of Seriphos as they swing refer to "the golden swing in the +sky," in other words to the sun whose golden lamp swings daily across the +blue vault of heaven. + +(M227) However that may be, it would seem that festivals of swinging are +especially held in spring. This is true, for example, of North Africa, +where such festivals are common. At some places in that part of the world +the date of the swinging is the time of the apricots; at others it is said +to be the spring equinox. In some places the festival lasts three days, +and fathers who have had children born to them within the year bring them +and swing them in the swings.(761) In Corea "the fifth day of the fifth +moon is called _Tano-nal_. Ancestors are then worshipped, and swings are +put up in the yards of most houses for the amusement of the people. The +women on this day may go about the streets; during the rest of the year +they may go out only after dark. Dressed in their prettiest clothes, they +visit the various houses and amuse themselves swinging. The swing is said +to convey the idea of keeping cool in the approaching summer. It is one of +the most popular feasts of the year."(762) Perhaps the reason here +assigned for swinging may explain other instances of the custom; on the +principles of homoeopathic magic the swinging may be regarded as a means +of ensuring a succession of cool refreshing breezes during the oppressive +heat of the ensuing summer. + + + + + +ADDENDA. + + +P. 104. _The sacred precinct of Pelops at Olympia._--It deserves to be +noted that just as Pelops, whose legend reflects the origin of the +chariot-race, had his sacred precinct and probably his tomb at Olympia, in +like manner Endymion, whose legend reflects the origin of the +foot-race,(763) had his tomb at the end of the Olympic stadium, at the +point where the runners started in the race.(764) This presence at Olympia +of the graves of the two early kings, whose names are associated with the +origin of the foot-race and of the chariot-race respectively, can hardly +be without significance; it indicates the important part played by the +dead in the foundation of the Olympic games. + +P. 188. _A man is literally reborn in the person of his son._--This belief +in the possible rebirth of the parent in the child may sometimes explain +the seemingly widespread dislike of people to have children like +themselves. Examples of such a dislike have met us in a former part of +this work.(765) A similar superstition prevails among the Papuans of Doreh +Bay in Dutch New Guinea. When a son resembles his father or a daughter +resembles her mother closely in features, these savages fear that the +father or mother will soon die.(766) Again, in the island of Savou, to the +south-west of Timor, if a child at birth is thought to be like its father +or mother, it may not remain under the parental roof, else the person whom +it resembles would soon die.(767) Such superstitions, it is obvious, might +readily suggest the expedient of killing the child in order to save the +life of the parent. + + + + + +INDEX. + + +Ababua, the, 65 + +Abbas, the Great, 157 + +Abchases, their memorial feasts, 98, 103 + +Abdication, annual, of kings, 148; + of father when his son is grown up, 181; + of the king on the birth of a son, 190 + +Abeokuta, the Alake of, 203 + +Abipones, the, 63 + +Abraham, his attempted sacrifice of Isaac, 177 + +Abruzzi, the, 66, 67; burning an effigy of the Carnival in the, 224; + Lenten custom in the, 244 _sq._ + +Abstract notions, the personification of, not primitive, 253 + +Academy at Athens, funeral games held in the, 96 + +Acaill, Book of, 39 + +Accession of a Shilluk king, ceremonies at the, 23 _sq._ + +Acropolis at Athens, the sacred serpent on the, 86 _sq._ + +Adonis or Tammuz, 7 + +Aesculapius restores Hippolytus or Virbius to life, 214 + +Africa, succession to the soul in, 200 _sq._ + +---- North, festivals of swinging in, 284 + +Agathocles, his siege of Carthage, 167 + +Agrigentum, Phalaris of, 75 + +Agrionia, a festival, 163 + +Agylla, funeral games at, 95 + +Ahaz, King, his sacrifice of his children, 169 _sq._ + +Akurwa, 19, 23, 24 + +Alake, the, of Abeokuta, custom of cutting off the head of his corpse, 203 + +Alban kings, 76 + +Albania, expulsion of Kore on Easter Eve in, 265 + +Alcibiades of Apamea, his vision of the Holy Ghost, 5 _n._3 + +Alexander the Great, funeral games in his honour, 95 + +Algonkin women, their attempts to be impregnated by the souls of the + dying, 199 + +Altdorf and Weingarten, Ash Wednesday at, 232 + +Alus, sanctuary of Laphystian Zeus at, 161, 164 + +Amasis, king of Egypt, 217 + +Amelioration in the character of the gods, 136 + +American Indians, their Great Spirit, 3 + +Andaman Islanders, their ideas as to shooting stars, 60 + +Angamis, the, 13 + +Angel of Death, 177 _sq._ + +Angola, the Matiamvo of, 35 + +Angoni, the, of British Central Africa, 156 _n._2 + +Angoy, king of, 39 + +Anhouri, Egyptian god, 5 + +Animals sacred to kings, 82, 84 _sqq._; + transformations into, 82 _sqq._ + +Annam, natives of, their indifference to death, 136 _sq._ + +Annual abdication of kings, 148 + +---- renewal of king's power at Babylon, 113 + +---- tenure of the kingship, 113 _sqq._ + +Antichrist, expected reign of, 44 _sq._ + +Aphrodite, the grave of, 4 + +Apollo, buried at Delphi, 4; + servitude of, 70 _n._1, 78; + and the laurel, 78 _sqq._; + as slayer of the dragon at Delphi, 78, 79, 80 _sq._; + at Thebes, 79; + purged of the dragon's blood in the Vale of Tempe, 81 + +Ardennes, effigies of Carnival burned in the, 226 _sq._ + +Ares, the grave of, 4 + +Ariadne and Theseus, 75 + +Ariadne's Dance, 77 + +Arician grove, ritual of the, 213 + +Arizona, mock human sacrifices in, 215 + +Arnold, Matthew, on the English middle class, 146 + +Artemis, Munychian, sacrifice to, 166 _n._1; mock human sacrifice in the + ritual of, 215 _sq._ + +Artemisia, wife of Mausolus, 95 + +Ascanius, 76 + +Ascension Day, 222 _n_.1; the "Carrying out of Death" on, at Braller, 247 + _sqq._ + +Ash Wednesday, Burial of the Carnival on, 221; + death of Caramantran on, 226; + effigies of Carnival or of Shrove Tuesday burnt or buried on, 226, 228 + _sqq._ + +_Asherim_, sacred poles, 169 + +Ass, son of a god in the form of an, 124 _sq._; + the crest or totem of a royal family, 132, 133 + +"Assegai, child of the," 183 + +Asses and men, redemption of firstling, 173 + +Assyrian eponymate, 116 _sq._ + +Astarte, the moon-goddess, 92 + +Astronomical considerations determining the early Greek calendar, 68 _sq._ + +Athamas and his children, legend of, 161 _sqq._ + +Athena, human sacrifices to, 166 _n._1 + +Athenaeus, 143 + +Athenian festival of swinging, 281 + +Athens, funeral games at, 96; + hand of suicide cut off at, 220 _n._ + +Attacks on kings permitted, 22, 48 _sqq._ + +Aun or On, king of Sweden, 57; sacrifices his sons, 160 _sq._, 188 + +Aurora Australis, fear entertained by the Kurnai of the, 267 _n._1 + +Australia, custom of destroying firstborn children among the aborigines + of, 179 _sq._; + magical rites for the revival of nature in Central, 270 + +Australian aborigines, their ideas as to shooting stars, 60 _sq._ + +---- funeral custom, 92 + +Avebury, Lord, 146 _n._1, 273 + +Baal, Semitic, 75; + human sacrifices to, 167 _sqq._, 195 + +Babylon, festival of Zagmuk at, 110, 113 + +Babylonian gods, mortality of the, 5 _sq._ + +---- legend of creation, 110 + +---- myth of Marduk and Tiamat, 105 _sq._, 107 _sq._ + +Bacchic frenzy, 164 + +Baganda, the, 11 + +Ball, V., 279 + +Ballymote, the Book of, 100 + +Balwe in Westphalia, Burying the Carnival at, 232 + +Banishment of homicide, 69 _sq._ + +Banna, a tribe accustomed to strangle their firstborn children, 181 _sq._ + +Barber, Rev. Dr. W. T. A., 145 _n._, 275 + +Barcelona, ceremony of "Sawing the Old Woman" at, 242 + +Barongo, the, 10, 61 + +Bashada, a tribe accustomed to strangle their firstborn children, 181 + _sq._ + +Bashkirs, their horse-races at funerals, 97 + +Bath of ox blood, 201 + +Battle of Summer and Winter, 254 _sqq._ + +Bautz, Dr. Joseph, on hell fire, 136 _n._1 + +Bavaria, Whitsuntide mummers in, 207 _sq._; + Carrying out Death in, 233 _sqq._; + dramatic contests between Summer and Winter in, 255 _sq._ + +Bear, the soul of Typhon in the Great, 5 + +Beast, the number of the, 44 + +Beating cattle to make them fat or fruitful, 236 + +Beauty and the Beast type of tale, 125 _sqq._ + +Bedouins, annual festival of the Sinaitic, 97 + +Behar, custom of swinging in, 279 + +Beheading the King, a Whitsuntide pageant in Bohemia, 209 _sq._ + +Bengal, kings of, their rule of succession, 51 + +Bengkali, East Indian island, 277 + +Benin, king of, represented with panther's whiskers, 85 _sq._; + human sacrifices at the burial of a king of, 139 _sq._ + +Berosus, Babylonian historian, 113 + +Berry, ceremony of "Sawing the Old Woman" in, 241 _sq._ + +Bhagats, mock human sacrifices among the, 217 _sq._ + +Bhuiyas, the, of north-eastern India, 56 + +Bilaspur, temporary rajah in, 154 + +Birds of omen, stories of their origin, 126, 127 _sq._ + +Black, Dr. J. Sutherland, 260 _sq._ + +Black bull sacrificed to the dead, 95 + +---- ox, bath of blood of, 201 + +---- ram sacrificed to Pelops, 92, 104 + +Bland, J. O. P., 274 _sq._ + +Blemishes, bodily, a ground for putting kings to death, 36 _sqq._ + +Blood of victims in rain-making ceremonies, 20; + bath of ox, 35; + human, offered to the dead, 92 _sq._, 104; + of sacrifice splashed on door-posts, house-posts, etc., 175, 176 _n._1; + of human victims smeared on faces of idols, 185 + +Boemus, J., 234 + +Bohemia, Whitsuntide mummers in, 209 _sqq._; + "Carrying out Death" in, 237 _sq._ + +Bones of sacrificial victim not broken, 20 + +Bonfire, jumping over, 262 + +Boni, in Celebes, 40 + +Book of Acaill, 39 + +Borans, their custom of sacrificing their children, 181 + +Bororos, the, of Brazil, 62 + +Bourges, ceremony of "Sawing the Old Woman" at, 242 + +Bourke, Captain J. G., 215 + +Boxers at funerals, 97 + +Brahmans, the ceremonial swinging of, 150, 156 _sq._ + +Braller in Transylvania, 230; "Carrying out Death" at, 247 _sqq._ + +Brasidas, funeral games in his honour, 94 + +Brazilian Indians, their indifference to death, 138 + +Breezes, magical means of securing, 287 + +Bridegroom of the May, 266 + +Bringing in Summer, 233, 237, 238, 246 _sqq._ + +Britomartis and Minos, 73 + +Brittany, Burial of Shrove Tuesday or of the Carnival in, 229 _sq._ + +Brockelmann, C., 116 + +Bronze ploughs used by Etruscans at founding cities, 157 + +Brother and sister marriages in royal families, 193 _sq._ + +Buddhist monks, suicide of, 42 _sq._ + +Budge, E. A. Wallis, 5 _n._3 + +Buginese of Celebes, their custom of swinging, 277 + +Bull, Pasiphae and the, 71; as symbol of the sun, 71 _sq._; + the brazen, of Phalaris, 75; + said to have guided the Samnites, 186 _n._4 + +---- and cow, represented by masked actors, 71 + +Bull-headed image of the sun, 75, 76, 78 + +Burgebrach in Bavaria, straw-man burnt on Ash Wednesday at, 232 + +Burial alive of the aged, 11 _sq._; + in jars, 12 _sq._; + of infants to secure rebirth, 199 _sq._; + of Shrove Tuesday, 228 + +Burning an effigy of the Carnival, 223, 224, 228 _sq._, 229 _sq._, 232 + _sq._ + +---- effigies of Shrove Tuesday, 227 _sqq._; + of Winter at Zurich, 260 _sq._ + +"Burying the Carnival," 209, 220 _sqq._ + +Busoga, mock human sacrifice in, 215 + +Cabunian, Mount, 3 + +Cadiz, custom of swinging at, 284 + +Cadmea, the, 79 + +Cadmus, servitude of, for the slaughter of the dragon, 70 _n._1, 78; + the slayer of the dragon at Thebes, 78 _sq._ + +---- and Harmonia, their transformation into serpents, 84; + marriage of, 88, 89 + +Caffres, the, 65 + +Caiem, the caliph, 8 + +Calabria, ceremony of "Sawing the Old Woman" in, 241; + custom of swinging in, 284 + +Calendar, the early Greek, determined by astronomical considerations, 68 + _sq._; + closely bound up with religion, 69; + the Syro-Macedonian, 116 + +_Calica Puran_, an Indian law-book, 217 + +Calicut, rule of succession observed by the kings of, 47 _sqq._, 206 + +California, Indians of, 62 + +Cambodia, Kings of Fire and Water in, 14; + annual abdication of the king of, 148 + +Canaanites, their custom of burning their children in honour of Baal, 168 + +Canada, Indians of, their ceremony for mitigating the cold of winter, 259 + _sq._ + +Caramantran, death of, on Ash Wednesday in Provence, 226 + +Carinthia, ceremony at the installation of a prince of, 154 _sq._ + +Carman, the fair of, 100, 101 + +Carnival, Burying the, 209, 220 _sqq._; + swings taken down at, 287 + +"Carnival (Shrovetide) Fool," 231 + +Carolina, king's son wounded among the Indians of, 184 _sq._ + +Carrier Indians, succession to the soul among the, 199 + +"Carrying out Death," 221, 233 _sqq._, 246 _sqq._ + +Carthaginian sacrifice of children to Moloch, 75; + to Baal, 167 _sq._ + +Cassange, in Angola, king of, 203; + human sacrifice at installation of king of, 56 _sq._ + +Cassotis, oracular spring, 79 + +Castaly, the oracular spring of, 79 + +Catalonia, funeral of Carnival in, 225 + +Cattle sacrificed instead of human beings, 166 _n._ 1 + +Caucasus, funeral games among the people of the, 97 _sq._ + +Cauxanas, Indian tribe of the Amazon, kill all their firstborn children, + 185 _sq._ + +Cecrops, half-serpent, half-man, 86 _sq._ + +Celebes, sanctity of regalia in, 202; the Toboongkoos of, 219 + +Celts of Gaul, their indifference to death, 142 _sq._ + +Cemeteries, fairs held at, 101, 102 + +Chaka, a Zulu tyrant, 36 _sq._ + +Chama, town on the Gold Coast, 129 + +Chariot-race at Olympia, 91, 104 _sq._, 287 + +---- races in honour of the dead, 93 + +Chewsurs, their funeral games, 98 + +Cheyne, Professor T. K., 86 _n._4 + +Chilcotin Indians, their practice at an eclipse of the sun, 77 + +"Child of the assegai," 183 + +Children sacrificed to Moloch, 75; + sacrificed by the Semites, 166 _sqq._; + dislike of parents to have children like themselves, 287 + +Chinese indifference to death, 144 _sqq._, 273 _sqq._; + reports of custom of devouring firstborn children, 180 + +Chiriguanos, the, of South America, 12 + +Chirol, Valentine, 274 + +Chitome, a pontiff in Congo, the manner of his death, 14 _sq._ + +Christmas, custom of swinging at, 284 + +Chrudim in Bohemia, effigy of Death burnt at, 239 + +Chukchees, voluntary deaths among the, 13 + +Circassia, games in honour of the dead in, 98 + +Circumcision of father as a mode of redeeming his offspring, 181; + mimic rite of, 219 _sq._ + +Cities, Etruscan ceremony at the founding of, 157 + +Cloud-dragon, myth of the, 107 + +Cluis-Dessus and Cluis-Dessous, custom of "Sawing the Old Woman" at, 241 + _sq._ + +Cnossus, Minos at, 70 _sqq._; + the labyrinth at, 75 _sqq._ + +Cobra, the crest of the Maharajah of Nagpur, 132 _sq._ + +Cock, king represented with the feathers of a, 85 + +Colchis, Phrixus in, 162 + +Congo, the pontiff Chitome in, 14 + +Conjunction of sun and moon, a time for marriage, 73 + +Consecration of firstlings, 172 + +Contempt of death, 142 _sqq._ + +Contests, dramatic, between actors representing Summer and Winter, 254 + _sqq._ + +Conti, Nicolo, 54 + +Conybeare, F. C., 5 _n._3 + +Cook, A. B., 71 _n._2, 78 _n._2, 79 _n._1, 80, 81 _n._1, 82 _ns._1 and 3, + 89 _n._5, 90 + +Corannas of South Africa, custom as to succession among the, 191 _sq._ + +Corea, custom of swinging in, 284 _sq._ + +Cornaby, Rev. W. A., 273 + +Cornford, F. M., 91 _n._7 + +Corn-harvest, the first-fruits of the, offered at Lammas, 101 _sq._ + +---- -spirit called the Old Man or the Old Woman, 253 _sq._ + +Cornwall, temporary king in, 153 _sq._ + +Corporeal relics of dead kings confer right to throne, 202 _sq._ + +Courtiers required to imitate their sovereign, 39 _sq._ + +Cow as symbol of the moon, 71 _sq._ + +Crane, dance called the, 75 + +Crassus, Publicius Licinius, 96 + +Creation, myths of, 106 _sqq._; + Babylonian legend of, 110 + +Creator, the grave of the, 3 + +Crete, grave of Zeus in, 3 + +Criminals sacrificed, 195 + +Crocodile clan, 31 + +Cromm Cruach, a legendary Irish idol, 183 + +Cronus buried in Sicily, 4; + his sacrifice of his son, 166, 179; + his treatment of his father and his children, 192; + his marriage with his sister Rhea, 194 + +Crooke, W., 53 _n._1, 157 _n._5, 159 _n._1 + +Crown of laurel, 78, 80 _sqq._; + of oak leaves, 80 _sqq._; + of olive at Olympia, 91 + +Crowning, festival of the, at Delphi, 78 _sqq._ + +Cruachan, the fair of, 101 + +Crystals, superstitions as to, 64 _n._6 + +Cupid and Psyche, story of, 131 + +Cutting or lacerating the body in honour of the dead, 92 _sq._, 97 + +Cuttle-fish, expiation for killing a, 217 + +Cychreus, king of Salamis, 87 + +Cycle, the octennial, based on an attempt to reconcile solar and lunar + time, 68 _sq._ + +Cyclopes, slaughter of the, 78 _n._4 + +Cytisorus, 162 + +Czechs of Bohemia, 221 + +Daedalus, 75 + +Dahomey, royal family of, related to leopards, 85; + religious massacres in, 138 + +Daira or Mahadev Mohammedans in Mysore, 220 + +Dalton, Colonel E. T., 217 + +Danakils or Afar of East Africa, 200 + +Dance of youths and maidens at Cnossus, 75 _sqq._; + Ariadne's, 77 + +Dardistan, custom of swinging in, 279 + +Darfur, Sultans of, 39 + +Dassera festival of Nepaul, 277 + +Daura, a Hausa kingdom, 35; + custom of succession to the throne in, 201 + +David, King, and the brazen serpent, 86 + +Dead, souls of the, associated with falling stars, 64 _sqq._; + rebirth of the, 70; + sacrifices to the, 92, 93, 94, 95, 97; + human blood offered to the, 92 _sq._, 104 + +Dead kings, worship of, 24 _sq._; + their spirits thought to possess sick people, 25 _sq._; + of Uganda consulted as oracles, 200 _sq._ + +---- man's hand used in magical ceremony, 267 _n._1 + +---- One, the, name applied to the last sheaf, 254 + +---- Sunday, 239; + the fourth Sunday in Lent, 221; + also called Mid-Lent, 222 _n._1 + +Death of the Great Pan, 6 _sq._ + +---- preference for a violent, 9 _sqq._; + natural, regarded as a calamity, 11 _sq._; + European fear of, 135 _sq._, 146; + indifference to, displayed by many races, 136 _sqq._; + the Carrying out of, 221, 233 _sqq._, 246 _sqq._; + conception of, in relation to vegetation, 253 _sq._; + in the corn, 254; + and resurrection of Kostrubonko at Eastertide, 261; + and revival of vegetation, 263 _sq._ + +Death, effigy of, feared and abhorred, 239 _sq._; + potency of life attributed to, 247 _sqq._ + +---- the Angel of, 177 _sq._ + +De Barros, Portuguese historian, 51 + +Deer, descent of Kalamants from a, 126 _sq._; + sacrificed instead of human beings, 166 _n._.1 + +Delos, Theseus at, 75 + +Delphi, tombs of Dionysus and Apollo at, 3 _sq._; + festival of Crowning at, 78 _sqq._ + +Dengdit, the Supreme Being of the Dinka, 30, 32 + +Deputy, the expedient of dying by, 56, 160 + +Dictynna and Minos, 73 + +Dinka, the, of the White Nile, 28 _sqq._; + totemism of the, 30 _sq._ + +Diomede, human sacrifices to, 166 _n._1 + +Dionysus, the tomb of, at Delphi, 3; + human sacrifice consummated by a priest of, 163; + boys sacrificed to, 166 _n._1 + +Dislike of people to have children like themselves, 287 + +Diurnal tenure of the kingship, 118 _sq._ + +Divine king, the killing of the, 9 _sqq._ + +---- kings of the Shilluk, 17 _sqq._ + +---- spirit incarnate in Shilluk kings, 21, 26 _sq._ + +Dodge, Colonel R. I., 3 + +Dog killed instead of king, 17 + +Doreh Bay in New Guinea, 287 + +Dorians, their superstition as to meteors, 59 + +Dragon, drama of the slaughter of the, 78 _sqq._, 89; + myth of the, 105 _sqq._ + +Dragon-crest of kings, 105 + +Dramatic contests of actors representing Summer and Winter, 254 _sqq._ + +Dreams, revelations in, 25 + +Drenching leaf-clad mummer as a rain-charm, 211 + +Driver, Professor S. R., 170 _n._5, 173 _n._1 + +Ducks and ptarmigan, dramatic contest of the, 259 + +Dyak medicine-men, their practice of swinging, 280 _sq._ + +Dyaks of Sarawak, story of their descent from a fish, 126; + sacrifice cattle instead of human beings, 166 _n._1; + their sacrifices during an epidemic, 176 _n._1; + their custom of swinging, 277 + +Dying, custom of catching the souls of the, 198 _sqq._ + +Dying by deputy, 56, 160 + +Eames, W., 273 + +Ears of sacrificial victims cut off, 97 + +Easter, first Sunday after, 249; + swinging on the Tuesday after, 283; + custom of swinging on the four Sundays before, 284 + +Easter Eve in Albania, expulsion of Kore on, 265 + +Eastertide, death and resurrection of Kostrubonko at, 261 + +Eating the bodies of aged relations, custom of, 14 + +Echinadian Islands, 6 + +Eclipse of the sun and moon, belief of the Tahitians as to, 73 _n._2; + practice of the Chilcotin Indians at an, 77 + +Ecliptic perhaps mimicked in dances, 77 + +Effigies of Carnival, 222 _sqq._; + of Shrove Tuesday, 227 _sqq._; + of Death, 233 _sqq._, 246 _sqq._; + seven-legged, of Lent in Spain and Italy, 244 _sq._; + of Winter burnt at Zurich, 260 _sq._; + of Kupalo, Kostroma, and Yarilo in Russia, 262 _sq._ + +Effigy, human sacrifices carried out in, 217 _sqq._ + +Egbas, the, 41 + +Egypt, temporary kings in Upper, 151 _sq._; + mock human sacrifices in ancient, 217 + +Egyptian gods, mortality of the ancient, 4 _sqq._; + influence on Christian doctrine of the Trinity, 5 _n._3; + kings called bulls, 72; + trinities of gods, 5 _n._3 + +Eimine Ban, an Irish abbot, 159 _n._1 + +Eldest sons sacrificed for their fathers, 161 _sqq._ + +Elliot, R. H., 136 + +Emain, fair at, 100 + +Embalming as a means of prolonging the life of the soul, 4 + +Encheleans, the, 84 + +Endymion at Olympia, 90; his tomb at Olympia, 287 + +English middle class, their clinging to life, 146 + +{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}, 70 _n._3 + +Eponymate, the Assyrian, 116 _sq._ + +Eponymous magistrates, 117 _n._1 + +Equinox, the spring, custom of swinging at, 284; + drama of Summer and Winter at the spring, 257 + +Erechtheum, the, 87 + +Erechtheus or Erichthonius in relation to the sacred serpent on the + Acropolis, 86 _sq._; + voluntary death of the daughters of, 192 _n._3 + +Ergamenes, king of Meroe, 15 + +Erichthonius, 86. _See_ Erechtheus + +Erigone, her suicide by hanging, 281 _sq._ + +Erzgebirge, Shrovetide custom in the, 208 _sq._ + +Esagil, temple of Marduk at Babylon, 113 + +Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, 116 + +Esquimaux, suicide among the, 43; + their magical ceremony in autumn, 259 + +Esthonian belief as to falling stars, 66 _sq._; + celebration of St. John's Day, 280; + custom on Shrove Tuesday, 233, 252 _sq._ + +Esthonians, their ideas of shooting stars, 63 + +Ethiopia, kings of, chosen for their beauty, 38 _sq._ + +Ethiopian kings of Meroe put to death, 15 + +Etruscan ceremony at founding cities, 157 + +Euphorion of Chalcis, Greek author, 143, 144 + +Europa, her wanderings, 89; + and Zeus, 73 + +European beliefs as to shooting stars, 66 _sqq._; + fear of death, 135 _sq._, 146 + +Evans, Sebastian, 122 _n._1 + +Eve, Easter, in Albania, 265 + +Eve of St. John (Midsummer Eve), Russian ceremony on, 262 + +Ewe negroes, the, 61 + +Expiation for killing sacred animals, 216 _sq._ + +Eyeo, kings of, put to death, 40 _sq._ + +Ezekiel, on the sacrifice of the firstborn, 171 _sq._ + +E-zida, the temple of Nabu, 110 + +Fairs of ancient Ireland, 99 _sqq._ + +Fashoda, the capital of the Shilluk kings, 18, 19, 21, 24 + +Father god succeeded by his divine son, 5 + +Fazoql or Fazolglou, kings of, put to death, 16 + +Fear of death entertained by the European races, 135 _sq._, 146 + +"Feeding the dead," 102 + +_Feriae Latinae_, 283 + +Feronia, a Latin goddess, 186 _n._4 + +Fertilising power ascribed to the effigy of Death, 250 _sq._ + +Festival of the Crowning at Delphi, 78 _sq._; + of the Laurel-bearing at Thebes, 78 _sq._, 88 _sq._ + +Festus, on "the Sacred Spring," 186 + +Feuillet, Madame Octave, 228 _sq._ + +Fez, mock sultan in, 152 + +Fighting the king, right of, 22 + +Fiji, voluntary deaths in, 11 _sq._; + custom of grave-diggers in, 156 _n._2; + rule of succession in, 191 + +Finger-joints, custom of sacrificing, 219; + mock sacrifice of, _ib._ + +Fire, voluntary death by, 42 _sqq._; + and Water, kings of, in Cambodia, 14 + +Firstborn, sacrifice of the, 171 _sqq._; + killed and eaten, 179 _sq._; + sacrificed among various races, 179 _sqq._ + +---- -fruits offered to the dead, 102; + of the corn offered at Lammas, 101 _sq._; + of the vintage offered to Icarius and Erigone, 283 + +Firstlings, Hebrew sacrifice of, 172 _sq._; + Irish sacrifice of, 183 + +Fish, descent of the Dyaks from a, 126 + +Fison, Rev. Lorimer, 156 _n._2 + +Five years, despotic power for period of, 53 + +Flight of the priestly king (_Regifugium_) at Rome, 213 + +Florence, ceremony of "Sawing the Old Woman" at, 240 _sq._ + +Florida, sacrifice of firstborn male children by the Indians of, 184 + +Fool, the Carnival, burial of, 231 _sq._ + +Foot, custom of standing on one, 149, 150, 155, 156 + +---- -race at Olympia, 287 + +Franche-Comte, effigies of Shrove Tuesday destroyed in, 227 + +Freycinet, L. de, 118 _n._1 + +Frosinone in Latium, burning an effigy of the Carnival at, 22 _sq._ + +Funeral of Kostroma, 261 _sqq._ + +---- -games, 92 _sqq._ + +---- -rites performed for a father in the fifth month of his wife's + pregnancy, 189 + +Futuna in the South Pacific, 97 + +Galton, Sir Francis, 146 _n._2 + +Game of Troy, 76 _sq._ + +Games, funeral, 92 _sqq._ + +Gandharva-Sena, 124, 125 + +Ganges, firstborn children sacrificed to the, 180 _sq._ + +Gazelle Peninsula in New Britain, 65 + +Gelo, tyrant of Syracuse, 167 + +Genesis, account of the creation in, 106 + +Ghost, the Holy, regarded as female, 5 _n._3 + +Ghosts propitiated with blood, 92; + propitiated with games, 96; + anger of, 103 + +Giles, Professor H. A., 275 + +Girls' race at Olympia, 91 + +Gladiators at Roman funerals, 96; + at Roman banquets, 143 + +Goats sacrificed instead of human beings, 166 _n._1 + +Gobir, a Hausa kingdom, 35 + +God, the killing and resurrection of a god in the hunting, pastoral, and + agricultural stages of society, 221 + +God's Mouth, 41 + +Gods, mortality of the, 1 _sqq._; + created by man in his own likeness, 2 _sq._; + succeeded by their sons, 5; + progressive amelioration in the character of the, 136 + +Golden apples of the Hesperides, 80 + +---- fleece, ram with, 162 + +---- swords, 75 + +Goldmann, Dr. Emil, 155 _n._1 + +Goldziher, I., 97 _n._7 + +Gomes, E. H., 176 _n._1 + +Gonds, mock human sacrifices among the, 217 + +Good Friday, 284 + +Gore, Captain, 139 _n._1 + +Gospel to the Hebrews, the apocryphal, 5 _n._3 + +_Graal_, _History of the Holy_, 120, 134 + +Grape-cluster, Mother of the, 8 + +Gray, Archdeacon J. H., 145 + +Great Pan, death of the, 6 _sq._ + +---- Spirit, the, of the American Indians, 3 + +---- year, the, 70 + +Greece, human sacrifices in ancient, 161 _sqq._; + swinging as a festal rite in modern, 283 _sq._ + +Greek mode of reckoning intervals of time, 59 _n._1 + +Greenlanders, their belief in the mortality of the gods, 3 + +Grey hair a signal of death, 36 _sq._ + +---- hairs of kings, 100, 102, 103 + +Grimm, J., 155 _n._1, 221, 240, 244 + +Groot, Professor J. J. M. de, 180 _n._7, 275 + +Grove, the Arician, 213 + +Guatemala, catching the soul of the dying in, 199 + +Guayana Indians, 12 + +Gypsies, ceremony of "Sawing the Old Woman" among the, 243 + +Hair, grey, a signal of death, 36 _sq._ + +Halae in Attica, mock human sacrifice at, 215 + +Hale, Horatio, quoted, 11 _sq._ + +Hamilton, Alexander, quoted, 48 + +Hamilton's _Account of the East Indies_, 278 + +Hammurabi, king of Babylon, 110 + +Hand of dead man in magical ceremony, 267 _n._1; + of suicide cut off, 220 _n._ + +Hanging of an effigy of the Carnival, 230 _sq._ + +Harmonia and Cadmus, 84; + marriage of, 88, 89 + +Harvest ceremonies, 20, 25 + +Harz Mountains, ceremony at Carnival in the, 233 + +Hausa kings put to death, 35 + +Hawaii, annual festival in, 117 _sq._ + +Hawk in Egypt, symbol of the sun and of the king, 112 + +Heads of dead kings removed and kept, 202 _sq._ + +Hebrew sacrifice of the firstborn, 171 _sqq._ + +Hebrews, apocryphal Gospel to the, 5 _n._3 + +Heitsi-eibib, a Hottentot god, 3 + +Heliogabalus, the emperor, 92 + +Heliopolis, 5; + the sacred bull of, 72 + +Hell fire in Catholic and Protestant theology, 136 + +Helle and Phrixus, the children of King Athamas, 161 _sqq._ + +Hephaestion, 95 + +Hera, race of girls in honour of, at Olympia, 91; + the sister of her husband Zeus, 194 + +Heraclitus, on the souls of the dead, 12 + +Hercules in the garden of the Hesperides, 80 + +Hermapolis, 4 + +Hermes, the grave of, 4 + +Heruli, the, 14 + +Hesperides, garden of the, 80 + +Hieraconpolis, 112 + +_High History of the Holy Graal_, 120, 134 + +Hippodamia at Olympia, 91; + grave of the suitors of, 104 + +Hippolytus or Virbius killed by horses, 214 + +Hindoo belief as to shooting stars, 67; + of the rebirth of a father in his son, 188 + +Hinnom, the Valley of, 169, 170 + +Hirpini, guided by a wolf (_hirpus_), 186 _n._4 + +Hodson, T. C., 117 _n._1 + +Hoeck, K., 73 _n._1 + +Hofmayr, P. W., 18 _n._1, 19 _n._2 + +Holm-oak, 81 _sq._ + +Holy Ghost, regarded as female, 5 _n._3 + +---- Saturday, 244 + +Homeric age, funeral games in the, 93 + +Homicide, banishment of, 69 _sq._ + +Homoeopathic or imitative magic, 283, 285 + +Hooks, Indian custom of swinging on, 278 _sq._ + +Horse-mackerel, descent of a totemic clan from a, 129 + +---- -races in honour of the dead, 97, 98, 99, 101; + at fairs, 99 _sqq._ + +Horses, Hippolytus killed by, 214 + +Horus, the soul of, in Orion, 5 + +Hottentots, the mortal god of the, 3 + +Howitt, A. W., 64 + +Human flesh, transformation into animal shape through eating, 83 _sq._ + +Human sacrifices at Upsala, 58; + in ancient Greece, 161 _sqq._; + mock, 214 _sqq._; + offered by ancestors of the European races, 214; + to renew the sun's fire, 74 _sq._ + +Huntsman, the Spectral, 178 + +Huron Indians, their burial of infants, 199 + +Ibadan in West Africa, 203 + +Ibn Batuta, 53 + +Icarus or Icarius and his daughter Erigone, 281 _sq._, 283 + +Ida, oracular cave of Zeus on Mount, 70 + +Ihering, R. von, 187 _n._4 + +Ijebu tribe, 112 + +Ilex or holm-oak, 81 _sq._ + +Immortality, belief of savages in their natural, 1; + firm belief of the North American Indians in, 137 + +Impregnation by the souls of the dying, 199 + +Incarnation of divine spirit in Shilluk kings, 21, 26 _sq._ + +India, sacrifice of firstborn children in, 180 _sq._; + images of Siva and Parvati married in, 265 _sq._ + +Indians of Arizona, mock human sacrifice among the, 215; + of Canada, their ceremony for mitigating the cold of winter, 259 _sq._ + +Indifference to death displayed by many races, 136 _sqq._ + +Indra and the dragon Vrtra, 106 _sq._ + +Infanticide among the Australian aborigines, 187 _n._6; + sometimes suggested by a doctrine of transmigration or reincarnation of + human souls, 188 _sq._; + prevalent in Polynesia, 191, 196; + among savages, 196 _sq._ + +Infants, burial of, 199 + +Ino and Melicertes, 162 + +Intervals of time, Greek and Latin modes of reckoning, 59 _n._1 + +_Invocavit_ Sunday, 243 + +Ireland, the great fairs of ancient, 99 _sqq._ + +Irish sacrifice of firstlings, 183 + +Iron-Beard, Dr., a Whitsuntide mummer, 208, 212, 233 + +Isaac about to be sacrificed by his father Abraham, 177 + +Isaacs, Nathaniel, 36 _sq._ + +Isis, the soul of, in Sirius, 5 + +Isle of Man, May Day in the, 258 + +Isocrates, 95 + +Israelites, their custom of burning their children in honour of Baal, 168 + _sqq._ + +Isthmian games instituted in honour of Melicertes, 93, 103 + +Italy, seven-legged effigies of Lent in, 244 _sq._ + +Jack o' Lent, 230 + +Jagas, a tribe of Angola, their custom of infanticide, 196 _sq._ + +Jaintias of Assam, 55 + +Jambi in Sumatra, temporary kings in, 154 + +Japan, mock human sacrifices in, 218 + +Jars, burial in, 12 _sq._ + +Java, Sultans of, 53 + +Jawbone of king preserved, 200 _sq._ + +Jeoud, the only-begotten son of Cronus, sacrificed by his father, 166 + +Jerome, on Tophet, 170 + +"Jerusalem, the Road of," 76 + +Jerusalem, sacrifice of children at, 169 + +Jinn, death of the King of the, 8 + +Jordanus, Friar, 54 + +Joyce, P. W., 100 _n._1, 101 + +Judah, kings of, their custom of burning their children, 169 + +Jukos, kings of the, put to death, 34 + +Jumping over a bonfire, 262 + +June, the twenty-ninth of, St. Peter's Day, 262 + +Juok, the great god of the Shilluk, 18 + +Jupiter, period of revolution of the planet, 49 + +Justin, 187 _n._5 + +Kaitish, the, 60 + +Kalamantans, their descent from a deer, 126 _sq._ + +Kali, Indian goddess, 123 + +Kamants, a Jewish tribe, 12 + +Kanagra district of India, 265 + +Karpathos, custom of swinging in the island of, 284 + +Katsina, a Hausa kingdom, 35 + +Kayans of Borneo, mock human sacrifices among the, 218 + +Keonjhur, ceremony at installation of Rajah of, 56 + +Kerre, a tribe accustomed to strangle their firstborn children, 181 _sq._ + +Khlysti, the, a Russian sect, 196 _n._3 + +Khonds of India, their human sacrifices, 139 + +Kibanga, kings of, put to death, 34 + +Killer of the Elephant, 35 + +Killing the divine king, 9 _sqq._ + +---- of the tree-spirit, 205 _sqq._; + a means to promote the growth of vegetation, 211 _sq._ + +---- a god, in the hunting, pastoral, and agricultural stages of society, + 221 + +King, the killing of the divine, 8 _sqq._; + slaying of the, in legend, 120 _sqq._; + responsible for the weather and crops, 165; + abdicates on the birth of a son, 190; + at Whitsuntide, pretence of beheading the, 209 _sq._ + +King of the Jinn, death of the, 8 + +---- of the Wood at Nemi, 28, 205 _sq._, 212 _sqq._ + +---- and Queen of May, marriage of, 266 + +King Hop, 149, 151 + +King's daughter offered as prize in a race, 104 + +---- jawbone preserved, 200 _sq._ + +---- life sympathetically bound up with the prosperity of the country, 21, + 27 + +---- skull used as a drinking-vessel, 200 + +---- son, sacrifice of the, 160 _sqq._ + +---- widow, succession to the throne through marriage with, 193 + +Kingdom, the prize of a race, 103 _sqq._ _See also_ Succession + +Kings, divine, of the Shilluk, 17 _sqq._; + regarded as incarnations of a divine spirit, 21, 26 _sq._; + attacks on, permitted, 22, 48 _sqq._; + worship of dead, 24 _sq._; + killed at the end of a fixed term, 46 _sqq._; + related to sacred animals, 82, 84 _sqq._; + personating dragons or serpents, 82; + addressed by names of animals, 86; + with a dragon or serpent crest, 105; + the supply of, 134 _sqq._; + temporary, 148 _sqq._; + abdicate annually, 148 + +---- killed when their strength fails, 14 _sqq._ + +---- of Dahomey and Benin represented partly in animal shapes, 85 _sq._ + +---- of Fire and Water, 14 + +---- of Uganda, dead, consulted as oracles, 200 _sq._ + +Kingship, octennial tenure of the, 58 _sqq._; + triennial tenure of the, 112 _sq._; + annual tenure of the, 113 _sqq._; + diurnal tenure of the, 118 _sq._; + burdens and restrictions attaching to the early, 135; + modern type of, different from the ancient, 135 + +Kingsley, Mary H., 119 _n._1 + +Kingsmill Islanders, 64 + +Kirghiz, games in honour of the dead among the, 97 + +_Kirwaido_, ruler of the old Prussians, 41 + +Koeniggraetz district of Bohemia, Whitsuntide custom in the, 209 _sq._ + +Kore expelled on Easter Eve in Albania, 265 + +Koryaks, voluntary deaths among the, 13 + +Kostroma, funeral of, 261 _sqq._ + +Kostrubonko, funeral of, 261 + +Krapf, Dr. J. L., 183 _n._1 + +Krishna, Hindoo festival of swinging in honour of, 279 + +Kupalo, funeral of, 261, 262 + +Kurnai, their fear of the Aurora Australis, 267 _n._1 + +Kutonaqa Indians of British Columbia, their sacrifice of their firstborn + children to the sun, 183 _sq._ + +La Rochelle, burning of Shrove Tuesday at, 230 + +Labyrinth, the Cretan, 71, 74, 75, 76, 77 + +Labyrinths in churches, 76; + in the north of Europe, 76 _sq._ + +Lada, the funeral of, 261, 262 + +Laevinus, M. Valerius, 96 + +Laius and Oedipus, 193 + +"Lame reign," 38 + +Lammas, the first of August, 99, 100, 101, 105 + +Lampson, M. W., 146 _n._1, 273 + +Lancelot constrained to be king, 120 _sq._, 135 + +Lang, Andrew, 130 _n._1 + +Laodicea in Syria, human sacrifices at, 166 _n._1 + +Laos, a province of Siam, 97 + +Laphystian Zeus, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165 + +Last sheaf called "the Dead One," 254 + +Latin festival, the great (_Feriae Latinae_), 283 + +---- mode of reckoning intervals of time, 59 _n._1 + +Latins, sanctity of the woodpecker among the, 186 _n._4 + +Latinus, King, his disappearance, 283 + +Laughlan Islanders, 63 + +Laurel, sacred, guarded by a dragon, 79 _sq._; + chewed by priestess of Apollo, 80 + +Laurel-Bearer at Thebes, 88 _sq._ + +---- -Bearing Apollo, 79 _n._3 + +---- -bearing, festival of the, at Thebes, 78 _sq._, 88 _sq._ + +---- wreath at Delphi and Thebes, 78 _sqq._ + +_Laws of Manu_, 188 + +Learchus, son of King Athamas, 161, 162 + +Lechrain, Burial of the Carnival in, 231 + +Leipsic, "Carrying out Death" at, 236 + +Lengua Indians, 11; + of the Gran Chaco, 63; + their practice of killing firstborn girls, 186; + their custom of infanticide, 197 + +Lent, the fourth Sunday in, called Dead Sunday or Mid-Lent, 221, 222 + _n._1, 233 _sqq._, 250, 255; + personified by an actor or effigy, 226, 230; + fifth Sunday in, 234, 239; + third Sunday in, 238; + Queen of, 244; + symbolised by a seven-legged effigy, 244 _sq._ + +Leonidas, funeral games in his honour, 94 + +Leopard Societies of Western Africa, 83 + +Leopards related to royal family of Dahomey, 85 + +Lepidus, Marcus Aemilius, 96 + +Lepsius, R., 17 _n._2 + +Lerida in Catalonia, funeral of the Carnival at, 225 _sq._ + +Lerpiu, a spirit, 32 + +Letts, celebration of the summer solstice among the, 280 + +Leviathan, 106 _n._2 + +Liebrecht, F., 7 _n._2 + +Life, human, valued more highly by Europeans than by many other races, 135 + _sq._ + +_Limu_, the Assyrian eponymate, 117 + +Lion, king represented with the body of a, 85 + +Lisiansky, U., 117 _sq._ + +"Little Easter Sunday," 153, 154 _n._1 + +Logan, W., 49 + +Lolos, the, 65 + +Lombardy, the Day of the Old Wives in, 241 + +"Lord of the Heavenly Hosts," 149, 150, 155, 156 + +Lostwithiel in Cornwall, temporary king at, 153 _sq._ + +Lous, a Babylonian month, 113, 116 + +Lucian, 42 + +Lug, legendary Irish hero, 99, 101 + +Lugnasad, the first of August, 101 + +Lunar and solar time, attempts to harmonise, 68 _sq._ + +Luschan, F. von, 85 _n._5, 86 _n._1 + +Lussac, Ash Wednesday at, 226 + +Lycaeus, Mount, Zeus on, 70; + human sacrifices on, 163 + +Macahity, an annual festival in Hawaii, 117 + +Macassars of Celebes, their custom of swinging, 277 + +Macdonald, Rev. J., 183 _n._2 + +Maceboard, the, in the Isle of Man, 258 + +Macgregor, Sir William, 203 _n._2 + +Macha, Queen, 100 + +McLennan, J. F., 194 _n._1 + +Magic, the Age of, 2; + homoeopathic or imitative, 283, 285 + +Magical ceremonies for the revival of nature in spring, 266 _sqq._; + for the revival of nature in Central Australia, 270 + +_Maha Makham_, the Great Sacrifice, 49 + +Mairs, their custom of sacrificing their firstborn sons, 181 + +Malabar, custom of _Thalavettiparothiam_ in, 53; + religious suicide in, 54 _sq._ + +Malayans, devil-dancers, practise a mock human sacrifice, 216 + +Malays, their belief in the Spectral Huntsman, 178 + +Malta, death of the Carnival in, 224 _sq._ + +Manasseh, King, his sacrifice of his children, 170 + +Mandans, their notions as to the stars, 67 _sq._ + +Man-god, reason for killing the, 9 _sq._ + +Mangaians, their preference for a violent death, 10 + +Manipur, the Naga tribes of, 11; + mode of counting the years in, 117 _n._1; + rajahs of, descended from a snake, 133 + +Mannhardt, W., 249 _n._4, 253, 270 + +_Manu_, _Laws of_, 188 + +Maoris, the, 64 + +Mara tribe of northern Australia, 60 + +_Mardi Gras_, Shrove Tuesday, 227 + +Marduk, New Year festival of, 110; + his image at Babylon, 113 + +---- and Tiamat, 105 _sq._, 107 _sq._ + +_Mareielis_ at Zurich, 260 + +Marena, Winter or Death, 262 + +Marketa, the holy, 238 + +Marriage, mythical and dramatic, of the Sun and Moon, 71, 73 _sq._, 78, 87 + _sq._, 92, 105; + of brothers and sisters in royal families, 193 _sq._ + +---- Sacred, of king and queen, 71; + of gods and goddesses, 73; + of actors disguised as animals, 83; + of Zeus and Hera, 91 + +"Marriage Hollow" at Teltown, 99 + +Martin, Father, quoted, 141 _sq._ + +Marzana, goddess of Death, 237 + +Masai, the, 61, 65; + their custom as to the skulls of dead chiefs, 202 _sq._ + +Masks hung on trees, 283 + +Masquerades of kings and queens, 71 _sq._, 88, 89 + +Masson, Bishop, 137 + +Mata, the small-pox goddess, sacrifice of children to, 181 + +Matiamvo, a potentate in Angola, the manner of his death, 35 _sq._ + +Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, 94 _sq._ + +Mausolus, contests of eloquence in his honour, 95 + +May, the Queen of, in the Isle of Man, 258; + King and Queen of, 266 + +---- Bride, 266 + +---- Day in Sweden, 254; + in the Isle of Man, 258 + +---- -tree, 246; + horse-race to, 208 + +---- -trees, 251 _sq._ + +Mbaya Indians of South America, 140; + their custom of infanticide, 197 + +Medicine-men swinging as a mode of cure, 280 _sq._ + +Melicertes at the Isthmus of Corinth, 93, 103; + in Tenedos, human sacrifices to, 162 + +Memphis, statues of Summer and Winter at, 259 _n._1 + +Men and asses, redemption of firstling, 173 + +Mendes, mummy of Osiris at, 4; + the ram-god of, 7 n.2 + +Menoeceus, his voluntary death, 192 _n._3 + +Meriahs, human victims among the Khonds, 139 + +Meroe, Ethiopian kings of, put to death, 15 + +Merolla, G., quoted, 14 _sq._ + +Messiah, a pretended, 46 + +Meteors, superstitions as to, 58 _sqq._ + +Metis, swallowed by her husband Zeus, 192 + +_Metsik_, "wood-spirit," 233, 252 _sq._ + +Meyer, Professor Kuno, 159 _n._1 + +Micah, the prophet, on sacrifice, 171, 174 + +Mid-Lent, the fourth Sunday in Lent, 222 _n._1; + also called Dead Sunday, 221; + celebration of, 234, 236 _sq._; + ceremony of "Sawing the Old Woman" at, 240 _sqq._ + +Midsummer Eve, Russian ceremony on, 262 + +Mikados, human sacrifices formerly offered at the graves of the, 218 + +Miltiades, funeral games in his honour, 93 + +Minahassa, mock human sacrifices in, 214 _sq._ + +Minorca, seven-legged images of Lent in, 244 _n._1 + +Minos, king of Cnossus, his reign of eight years, 70 _sqq._; + tribute of youths and maidens sent to, 74 _sqq._ + +---- and Britomartis, 73 + +Minotaur, legend of the, 71, 74, 75 + +Minyas, king of Orchomenus, 164 + +Mnevis, the sacred bull of Heliopolis, 72 + +Moab, king of, sacrifices his son on the wall, 166, 179 + +Mock human sacrifices, 214 _sqq._; + sacrifices of finger-joints, 219 + +---- sultan in Morocco, 152 _sq._ + +Mohammedan belief as to falling stars, 63 _sq._ + +Moloch, sacrifice of children to, 75, 168 _sqq._ + +Moon represented by a cow, 71 _sq._; + myth of the setting and rising, 73; + married to Endymion, 90 + +---- and sun, mythical and dramatic marriage of the, 71, 73 _sq._, 78, 87 + _sq._, 92, 105 + +Morasas, the, 219 + +Moravia, "Carrying out Death" in, 238 _sq._, 249 + +Morocco, annual temporary king in, 152 _sq._ + +Mortality of the gods, 1 _sqq._ + +Moschus, 73 _n._1 + +Moss, W., 284 _n._4 + +Mother of the Grape-cluster, 8 + +Moulton, Professor J. H., 124 _n._1 + +Mounds, sepulchral, 93, 96, 100, 104 + +Mulai Rasheed II., 153 + +Mueller, K. O., 59, 69 _n._1, 90, 165 _n._1, 166 _n._1 + +Mumbo Jumbos, 178 + +Mummers, the Whitsuntide, 205 _sqq._ + +Murderers, their bodies destroyed, 11 + +Mutch, Captain J. S., 259 _n._1 + +Mysore, mimic rite of circumcision in, 220 + +Myths of creation, 106 _sqq._ + +Nabu, a Babylonian god, 110 + +Naga tribes of Manipur, 11 + +Nagpur, the cobra the crest of the Maharajah of, 132 _sq._ + +Namaquas, the, 61 + +Natural death regarded as a calamity, 11 _sq._ + +Nauroz and Eed festivals, 279 + +Nemean games celebrated in honour of Opheltes, 93 + +Nemi, priest of, 28, 212 _sq._, 220; + King of the Wood at, 205 _sq._, 212 _sqq._ + +Nephele, wife of King Athamas, 161 + +New Britain, 65 + +---- Guinea, the Papuans of, 287 + +---- Hebrides, burial alive in the, 12 + +---- South Wales, sacrifice of firstborn children among the aborigines of, + 179 _sq._ + +Ngarigo, the, of New South Wales, 60 + +Ngoio, a province of Congo, 118 _sq._ + +Nias, custom of succession to the chieftainship in, 198 _sq._; +mock human sacrifices at funerals in, 216 + +Nicobarese, their sham-fights to gratify the dead, 96 + +Niederpoering in Bavaria, Whitsuntide custom at, 206 _sq._ + +Niue or Savage Island, 219 + +Noeldeke, Professor Th., 179 _n._4 + +Normandy, Burial of Shrove Tuesday in, 228 + +Norsemen, their custom of wounding the dying, 13 _sq._ + +North Africa, festivals of swinging in, 284 + +---- American Indians, their funeral celebrations, 97; + their firm belief in immortality, 137 + +Nyakang, founder of the dynasty of Shilluk kings, 18 _sqq._ + +Nyikpla or Nyigbla, a negro divinity, 61 + +Oak, sacred, at Delphi, 80 _sq._; + effigy of Death buried under an, 236 + +Oak branches, Whitsuntide mummer swathed in, 207 + +---- -leaves, crown of, 80 _sqq._ + +Oath by the Styx, 70 _n._1 + +Octennial cycle based on an attempt to harmonise lunar and solar time, 68 + _sq._ + +---- tenure of the kingship, 58 _sqq._ + +Odin, 13; + legend of the deposition of, 56; sacrifice of king's sons to, 57; + human sacrifices to, 160 _sq._, 188 + +Oedipus, legend of, 193 + +Oenomaus at Olympia, 91 + +Oesel, island of, 66 + +Old Man, name of the corn-spirit, 253 _sq._ + +---- people killed, 11 _sqq._ + +---- Wives, the Day of the, 241 + +---- Woman, Sawing the, a ceremony in Lent, 240 _sqq._; + name applied to the corn-spirit, 253 _sq._ + +Oldenberg, Professor H., 122 _n._2 + +Oleae, the, at Orchomenus, 163, 164 + +Olive crown at Olympia, 91 + +Olympia, tombs of Pelops and Endymion at, 287 + +Olympiads based on the octennial cycle, 90 + +Olympic festival based on the octennial cycle, 89 _sq._; + based on astronomical, not agricultural considerations, 105 + +---- games said to have been founded in honour of Pelops, 92 + +---- stadium, the, 287 + +---- victors regarded as embodiments of Zeus, 90 _sq._, or of the Sun and + Moon, 91, 105 + +Omen-birds, stories of their origin, 126, 127 _sq._ + +On or Aun, king of Sweden, 57, 160 _sq._, 188 + +Opheltes at Nemea, 93 + +Ophites, the, 5 _n._3 + +Oracular springs, 79 _sq._ + +Orchomenus in Boeotia, human sacrifice at, 163 _sq._ + +Ordeal by poison, fatal effects of, 197 + +Orestes, flight of, 213 + +Origen, on the Holy Spirit, 5 _n._3 + +Orion the soul of Horus, 5 + +_Ororo_, 24 + +Osiris, the mummy of, 4 + +Otho, suicide of the Emperor, 140 + +Ox-blood, bath of, 201 + +Oxen sacrificed instead of human beings, 166 _n._1 + +Palermo, ceremony of "Sawing the Old Woman" at, 240 + +Palm Sunday, "Sawing the Old Woman" on, 243 + +Palodes, 6 + +Pan, death of the Great, 6 _sq._ + +Panebian Libyans, their custom of cutting off the heads of their dead + kings, 202 + +Papuans, the, of Doreh Bay in New Guinea, 287 + +Parker, Professor E. H., 146 _n._1 + +Parkinson, John, 112 _sq._ + +Parrots' eggs, a signal of death, 40 _sq._ + +Parsons, Harold G., 203 _n._5 + +Parthenon, eastern frieze of the, 89 _n._5 + +Parvati and Siva, marriage of the images of, 265 _sq._ + +Pasiphae identified with the moon, 72 + +---- and the bull, 71 + +"Pass through the fire," meaning of the phrase as applied to the sacrifice + of children, 165 _n._3, 172 + +Passier, kings of, put to death, 51 _sq._ + +Passover, tradition of the origin of the, 174 _sqq._ + +Pau Pi, an effigy of the Carnival, 225 + +Pausanias, King, funeral games in his honour, 94 + +Payagua Indians, 12 + +Payne, E. J., 69 _n._2 + +Paxos, 6 + +_Peking Gazette_, 274, 275 + +Pelops worshipped at Olympia, 92, 104; + sacred precinct of, 104, 287 + +---- and Hippodamia at Olympia, 91 + +Penance for the slaughter of the dragon, 78 + +Peregrinus, his death by fire, 42 + +Persia, temporary kings in, 157 _sqq._ + +Personification of abstract ideas not primitive, 253 + +Peru, sacrifice of children among the Indians of, 185 + +Perun, sacrifice of firstborn children to, 183 + +Peruvian Indians, 63 _n._1 + +_Pfingstl_, a Whitsuntide mummer, 206 _sq._, 211 + +Phalaris, the brazen bull of, 75 + +Phaya Phollathep, "Lord of the Heavenly Hosts," 149 + +Pherecydes, 163 _n._1 + +Philippine Islands, 3 + +Philo Judaeus, his doctrine of the Trinity, 6 _n._ + +---- of Byblus, 166, 179 + +Phocaeans, dead, propitiated with games, 95 + +Phoenicians, their custom of human sacrifice, 166 _sq._, 178, 179 + +Phrixus and Helle, the children of King Athamas, 161 _sqq._ + +Piceni, guided by a woodpecker (_picus_), 186 _n._4 + +Pilsen district of Bohemia, Whitsuntide custom in the, 210 _sq._ + +Pindar on the rebirth of the dead, 70 + +Pitre, G., 224 _n._1 + +Plataea, sacrifices and funeral games in honour of the slain at, 95 _sq._ + +Plato on human sacrifices, 163 + +Ploughing, annual ceremony of, performed by temporary king, 149, 155 + _sq._, 157 + +Ploughs, bronze, used by Etruscans at founding of cities, 157 + +Plutarch, 163; + on the death of the Great Pan, 6; + on human sacrifices among the Carthaginians, 167 + +Poison ordeal, fatal effects of the use of the, 197 + +Polynesia, remarkable rule of succession in, 190; + prevalence of infanticide in, 191, 196 + +Poplars burnt on Shrove Tuesday, 224 _n._1 + +Poseidon, identified with Erechtheus, 87 + +Posidonius, ancient Greek traveller, 142 + +Possession by spirits of dead kings, 25 _sq._ + +Preference for a violent death, 9 _sqq._ + +Pregnancy, funeral rites performed for a father in the fifth month of his + wife's, 189 + +Prince of Wales Islands, 64 + +Procopius, 14 + +Prussians, supreme ruler of the old, 41 _sq._; + custom of the old, 156 + +Pruyssenaere, E. de, 30 _n._1 + +Psoloeis, the, at Orchomenus, 163, 164 + +Ptarmigans and ducks, dramatic contest of the, 259 + +Puruha, a province of Quito, 185 + +Pururavas and Urvasi, Indian story of, 131 + +Pylos, burning the Carnival at, 232 _sq._ + +Pythagoras at Delphi, 4 + +Pythian games, 80 _sq._; + celebrated in honour of the Python, 93 + +Queen of May in the Isle of Man, 259; + married to the King of May, 266 + +---- of Winter in the Isle of Man, 258 + +Queensland, natives of, their superstitions as to falling stars, 60 + +Quilicare, suicide of kings of, 46 _sq._ + +Quiteve, title of kings of Sofala, 37 _sq._ + +Race for the kingdom at Olympia, 90 + +Races to determine the successor to the kingship, 103 _sqq._ + +_Radica_, a festival at the end of the Carnival at Frosinone, 222 + +Rahab or Leviathan, 106 _n._2 + +Rain-charms, 211 + +---- clan, 31 + +---- -god, 61 + +---- -makers among the Dinka, 32 _sqq._ + +---- -making ceremonies, 20 + +Rajah, temporary, 154 + +Rali, the fair of, 265 + +Ram with golden fleece, 162 + +---- -god of Mendes, 7 _n._3 + +---- sacrificed to Pelops, 92, 104 + +Raratonga, custom of succession in, 191 + +_Rauchfiess_, a Whitsuntide mummer, 207 _n._1 + +Rebirth of the dead, 70; + of a father in his son, 188 _sqq._; + of the parent in the child, 287 + +Reckoning intervals of time, Greek and Latin modes of reckoning, 59 _n._1 + +Redemption of firstling men and asses, 173 + +Regalia in Celebes, sanctity of, 202 + +Regicide among the Slavs, 52; + modified custom of, 148 + +_Regifugium_ at Rome, 213 + +Reinach, Salomon, 7 _n._2 + +Reincarnation of human souls, belief in, a motive for infanticide, 188 + _sq._ + +Religion, the Age of, 2 + +Renewal, annual, of king's power at Babylon, 113 + +Resurrection of the god, 212; + of the tree-spirit, 212; + of a god in the hunting, pastoral, and agricultural stages of society, + 221; + enacted in Shrovetide or Lenten ceremonies, 233; + of the effigy of Death, 247 _sqq._; + of the Carnival, 252; + of the Wild Man, 252; + of Kostrubonko at Eastertide, 261 + +Retaliation in Southern India, law of, 141 _sq._ + +Rhea and Cronus, 194 + +Rhegium in Italy, 187 _n._5 + +Rhodes, human sacrifices to Baal in, 195 + +Rhys, Sir John, 101 + +Rigveda, the, 279 + +"Road of Jerusalem," 76 + +Robinson, Captain W. C., 139 _n._1 + +Rockhill, W. W., 284 _sq._ + +Roman custom of catching the souls of the dying, 200; + of vowing a "Sacred Spring," 186 _sq._ + +---- funeral customs, 92, 96 + +---- game of Troy, 76 _sq._ + +---- indifference to death, 143 _sq._ + +Rome, funeral games at, 96; + the _Regifugium_ at, 213 + +Rook, custom of killing all firstborn children in the island of, 180 + +Roscher, W. H., 7 _n._2, 73 _n._2 + +Roscoe, Rev. J., 139, 182 _n._2, 201 _n._1 + +Rose, H. A., 181 + +Rose, the Sunday of the, 222 _n._1 + +Rottweil, the Carnival Fool at, 231 + +Russia, funeral ceremonies of Kostrubonko, etc., in, 261 _sqq._ + +Russians, religious suicides among the, 44 _sq._; + the heathen, their sacrifice of the firstborn children, 183 + +Sacaea, a Babylonian festival, 113 _sqq._ + +Sacred Marriage of king and queen, 71; + of actors disguised as animals, 71, 83; + of gods and goddesses, 73; + of Zeus and Hera, 91 + +---- spears, 19, 20 + +"Sacred spring, the," among the ancient Italian peoples, 186 _sq._ + +Sacrifice of the king's son, 160 _sqq._; + of the firstborn, 171 _sqq._, 179 _sqq._; + of finger-joints, 219 + +Sacrifices for rain, 20; + for the sick, 20, 25; + to totems, 31; + to the dead, 92, 93, 94, 95, 97; + of children among the Semites, 166 _sqq._ + +---- human, in ancient Greece, 161 _sqq._; + mock human, 214 _sqq._ + +---- vicarious, 117; + in ancient Greece, 166 _n._1 + +St. George and the Dragon, 107; + swinging on the festival of, 283 + +St. John's Day (the summer solstice), swinging at, 280 + +---- Eve, Russian ceremony on, 262 + +Saint-Lo, the burning of Shrove Tuesday at, 228 _sq._ + +St. Peter's Day, the twenty-ninth of June, 262 + +Saintonge and Aunis, burning the Carnival in, 230 + +Sakalavas, sanctity of relics of dead kings among the, 202 + +Salamis in Cyprus, human sacrifices at, 166 _n._1 + +Salih, a prophet, 97 + +Salish Indians, their sacrifice of their firstborn children to the sun, + 184 + +Salmoneus, his imitation of thunder and lightning, 165 + +Samaracand, New Year ceremony at, 151 + +Samnites, guided by a bull, 186 _n._4 + +Samoa, expiation for disrespect to a sacred animal in, 216 _sq._ + +Samorin, title of the kings of Calicut, 47 _sq._ + +Samothracian mysteries, 89 + +Santal custom of swinging on hooks, 279 + +Santos, J. dos, 37 _sq._ + +Sarawak, Dyaks of, 277 + +Saturday, Holy, 244 + +Savage Island, mimic rite of circumcision in, 219 _sq._ + +Savages believe themselves naturally immortal, 1 + +Savou, island of, 287 + +"Sawing the Old Woman," a Lenten ceremony, 240 _sqq._ + +Saws at Mid-Lent, 241, 242 + +Saxon kings, their marriage with their stepmothers, 193 + +Saxons of Transylvania, the hanging of an effigy of Carnival among the, + 230 _sq._ + +Saxony, Whitsuntide mummers in, 208 + +_Scarli_, 224 _n._1 + +Schmidt, A., 59 _n._1 + +Schmiedel, Professor P., 261 _n._1 + +Schoolcraft, H. R., 137 _sq._ + +Schoerzingen, the Carnival Fool at, 231 + +Schwegler, F. C. A., 187 _n._4 + +Sdach Meac, title of annual temporary king of Cambodia, 148 + +Sea Dyaks, their stories of the origin of omen birds, 126, 127 _sq._ + +Seligmann, C. G., 17, 21, 22, 23, 26, 30, 33 + +Semang, the, 85 + +Semic in Bohemia, beheading the king on Whit-Monday at, 209 + +Seminoles of Florida, souls of the dying caught among the, 199 + +Semites, sacrifices of children among the, 166 _sqq._ + +Semitic Baal, 75 + +Senjero, sacrifice of firstborn sons in, 182 _sq._ + +Sepharvites, their sacrifices of children, 171 + +Seriphos, custom of swinging in the island of, 283 _sq._ + +Serpent, the Brazen, 86; + sacred, on the Acropolis at Athens, 86; + or dragons personated by kings, 82; + transmigration of the souls of the dead into, 84 + +Servitude for the slaughter of dragons, 70, 78 + +Servius, on the legend of Erigone, 282 + +Seven youths and maidens, tribute of, 74 _sqq._ + +---- -legged effigy of Lent, 244 _sq._ + +Shadow Day, a gypsy name for Palm Sunday, 243 + +---- Queen, the, 243 + +Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, 169, 170 + +Sham fight, 24 + +Shark, king of Dahomey represented with body of a, 85 + +Shilluk, a tribe of the White Nile, 17 _sqq._; + custom of putting to death the divine kings, 17 _sqq._, 204, 206; + ceremony on the accession of a new king of the, 204 + +Shirt worn by the effigy of Death, its use, 247, 249 + +Shooting stars, superstitions as to, 53 _sqq._ + +Shrines of dead kings, 24 _sq._ + +Shrove Tuesday, Burial of the Carnival on, 221 _sqq._; + mock death of, 227 _sqq._; + drama of Summer and Winter on, 257 + +Shrovetide custom in the Erzgebirge, 208 _sq._; + in Bohemia, 209 + +---- Bear, the, 230 + +Shurii-Kia-Miau, aboriginal tribe in China, 145 + +Siam, annual temporary kings in, 149 _sq._ + +Siamese, mock human sacrifices among the, 218 + +Sick, sacrifices for the, 20, 25; + thought to be possessed by the spirits of kings, 25 _sq._ + +Silesia, "Carrying out Death" in, 236 _sq._, 250 _sq._ + +Singalang Burong, the Ruler of the Spirit World, 127, 128 + +Sioo or Siauw, mock human sacrifices in the island of, 218 + +Sirius, the soul of Isis in, 5 + +Sister, marriage with, in royal families, 193 _sq._ + +Siu, a Sea Dyak, and his bird wife, 127 _sq._ + +Siva and Parvati, marriage of the images of, 265 _sq._ + +Six hundred and sixty-six, the number of the Beast, 44 + +Skoptsi, a Russian sect, 196 _n._3 + +Skull of dead king used as a drinking-vessel, 200 + +Skulls of dead kings removed and kept, 202 _sq._ + +Sky-spirit, sacrifice of children to, 181 + +Slaughter of the Dragon, drama of the, at Delphi and Thebes, 78 _sqq._, + 89; + myth of the, 105 _sqq._ + +Slavs, custom of regicide among the, 52; + festival of the New Year among the old, 221; + "Sawing the Old Woman" among the, 242 + +Slaying of the king in legend, 120 _sqq._ + +Smith, W. Robertson, 8 _n._1 + +Snake, rajahs of Manipur descended from a, 133 + +Sofala, kings of, put to death, 37 _sq._; + dead kings of, consulted as oracles, 201 + +Solar and lunar time, early attempts to harmonise, 68 _sq._ + +Son of the king sacrificed for his father, 160 _sqq._ + +Sons of gods, 5 + +"Soranian Wolves," 186 _n._4 + +Soul, succession to the, 196 _sqq._ + +Souls of the dead supposed to resemble their bodies, as these were at the + moment of death, 10 _sq._; + associated with falling stars, 64 _sqq._; + transmitted to successors, 198 + +South American Indians, their insensibility to pain, 138 + +Spain, seven-legged effigies of Lent in, 244 + +Spartan kings liable to be deposed every eighth year, 58 _sq._ + +Spears, sacred, 19 + +Spectral Huntsman, 178 + +Spencer and Gillen, quoted, 180 _n._1, 187 _n._6 + +Spirit, the Great, of the American Indians, 3 + +Spitting to avert demons, 63 + +Spring equinox, custom of swinging at, 284; + drama of Summer and Winter at the, 257 + +Spring, magical ceremonies for the revival of nature in, 266 _sqq._ + +"Spring, the Sacred," among the ancient Italian peoples, 186 _sq._ + +Springs, oracular, 78 _sq._ + +Stadium, the Olympic, 287 + +Standing on one foot, custom of, 149, 150, 155, 156 + +Stars, the souls of Egyptian gods in, 5; + shooting, superstitions as to, 58 _sqq._; + their supposed influence on human destiny, 65 _sq._, 67 _sq._ + +Stepmother, marriage with a, 193 + +Stevens, Captain John, his _History of Persia_ quoted, 158 _sq._ + +Stigand, Captain C. H., 182 + +Stool at installation of Shilluk kings, 24 + +Students of Fez, their mock sultan, 152 _sq._ + +Styx, oath by the, 70 _n._1 + +Substitutes, voluntary, for capital punishment in China, 145 _sq._, 273 + _sqq._ + +Succession in Polynesia, customs of, 190 _sq._ + +---- to the kingdom through marriage with a sister or with the king's widow, + 193 _sq._; + conferred by personal relics of dead kings, 202 _sq._ + +---- to the soul, 196 _sqq._ + +Sufi II., Shah of Persia, 158 + +Suicide of Buddhist monks, 42 _sq._; + epidemic of, in Russia, 44 _sq._; + by hanging, 282 + +----, religious, 42 _sqq._, 54 _sqq._; + in India, 54 _sq._ + +----, hand of, cut off, 220 _n._ + +Sulka, the, of New Britain, 65 + +"Sultan of the Scribes," 152 _sq._ + +Summer, bringing in, 233, 237, 238, 246 _sqq._ + +---- and Winter, dramatic battle of, 254 _sq._ + +---- solstice in connexion with the Olympic festival, 90; + swinging at the, 280 + +---- trees, 246, 251 _sq._ + +Sun represented by a bull, 71 _sq._; + represented as a man with a bull's head, 75; + eclipses of the, beliefs and practices as to, 73 _n._2, 77; + sacrifice of firstborn children to the, 183 _sq._; + called "the golden swing in the sky," 279 + +Sun and Moon, mythical and dramatic marriage of, 71, 73 _sq._, 78, 87 + _sq._, 92, 105 + +Sunday of the Rose, 222 _n._1 + +Supply of kings, 134 _sqq._ + +Supreme Beings, otiose, in Africa, 19 _n._ + +Swabia, Whitsuntide mummers in, 207; + Shrovetide or Lenten ceremonies in, 230, 233 + +Sweden, May Day in, 254 + +Swedish kings, traces of nine years' reign of, 57 _sq._ + +Swing in the Sky, the Golden, description of the sun, 279 + +Swinging as a ceremony or magical rite, 150, 156 _sq._, 277 _sqq._; + on hooks run through the body, Indian custom, 278 _sq._; + as a mode of inspiration, 280; + as a festal rite in modern Greece, Spain, and Italy, 283 _sq._ + +Swords, golden, 75 + +Syene, 144 _n._2 + +Syntengs of Assam, 55 + +Syro-Macedonian calendar, 116 _n._1 + +Tahiti, remarkable rule of succession in, 190 + +Tahitians, their notions as to eclipses of the sun and moon, 73 _n._2 + +Tailltiu or Tailltin, the fair of, 99, 101 + +Takilis or Carrier Indians, succession to the soul among the, 199 + +Talos, a bronze man, perhaps identical with the Minotaur, 74 _sq._ + +Tammuz or Adonis, 7 + +Tara, pagan cemetery at, 101 + +Tarahumares, the, of Mexico, 62 + +Taui Islanders, 61 + +Tchiglit Esquimaux, the, 65 + +Tel-El-Amarna tablets, 170 _n._5 + +Teltown, the fair at, 99 + +Tempe, the Vale of, 81 + +Temporary kings, 148 _sqq._ + +Tenedos, sacrifice of infants to Melicertes in, 162 + +Tengaroeng in Borneo, swinging at, 280, 281 + +_Thalavettiparothiam_, a custom observed in Malabar, 52 _sq._ + +Thamus, an Egyptian pilot, 6 + +Thebes, festival of the Laurel-Bearing at, 78 _sq._, 88 _sq._ + +Theopompus, 95 + +Theseus and Ariadne, 75 + +Thiodolf, the poet, 161 + +Thracians, funeral games held by the, 96; + their contempt of death, 142 + +Throne, reverence for the, 51 + +Thueringen, Whitsuntide mummers in, 208; + Carrying out Death in, 235 _sq._ + +Tiamat and Marduk, 105 _sq._, 107 _sq._ + +Tiberius, his enquiries as to the death of Pan, 7; + his attempt to put down Carthaginian sacrifices of children, 168 + +Tilton, E. L., 232 + +Time, Greek and Latin modes of reckoning intervals of, 59 + +Timoleon, funeral games in his honour, 94 + +Tinneh Indians, the, 65, 278 + +Tirunavayi temple, 49 + +Tlachtga, pagan cemetery at, 101 + +Toboongkoos, mock human sacrifices among the, 219 + +_Todtenstein_, 264 + +Tonquinese custom of catching the soul of the dying, 200 + +Tooth of dead king kept, 203 + +Tophet, 169, 170, 171 + +Torres Straits, funeral custom in, 92 _sq._ + +Totemism of the Dinka, 30 _sq._; + possible trace of Latin, 186 _n._4; + the source of a particular type of folk-tales, 129 _sqq._ + +Totems, sacrifices to, 31; + stories told to account for the origin of, 129 + +Toumou, Egyptian god, 5 + +Transformations into animals, 82 _sqq._ + +Transmigration of souls of the dead into serpents and other animals, 84 + _sq._; + belief in, a motive for infanticide, 188 _sq._ + +Transmission of soul to successor, 198 _sqq._ + +Trasimene Lake, battle of, 186 + +Tree-spirit, killing of the, 205 _sqq._; + resurrection of the, 212; + in relation to vegetation-spirit, 253 + +Trees, masks hung on, 283 + +Trevelyan, G. M., 154 _n._1 + +Tribute of youths and maidens, 74 _sqq._ + +Triennial tenure of the kingship, 112 _sq._ + +Trinity, Christian doctrine of the, 5 _n._3 + +Trocadero Museum, statues of kings of Dahomey in the, 85 + +Trojeburg, 77 + +Trophonius at Lebadea, 166 _n._1 + +Troy, the game of, 76 _sq._ + +Tshi-speaking negroes of the Gold Coast, their stories to explain their + totemism, 128 _sq._ + +Turrbal tribe of Queensland, 60 + +Typhon, the soul of, in the Great Bear, 5 + +Uganda, king of, 39 _sq._; + human sacrifices in, 139; + firstborn sons strangled in, 182; + dead kings of, give oracles through inspired mediums, 200 _sq._ + +Ujjain in Western India, 122 _sqq._, 132, 133 + +Ulster, tombs of the kings of, 101 + +Unyoro, kings of, put to death, 34 + +Upsala, 161; + sepulchral mound at, 57; + great festival at, 58 + +Uranus mutilated by his son Cronus, 192 + +Urvasi and King Pururavas, Indian story of, 131 + +Ushnagh, pagan cemetery at, 101 + +Valhala, 13 + +Varro on a Roman funeral custom, 92; + on suicides by hanging, 282 + +Vegetation, death and revival of, 263 _sqq._ + +---- -spirit perhaps generalised from a tree-spirit, 253 + +Vicarious sacrifices, 117; + in ancient Greece, 166 _n._1 + +Vikramaditya, legendary king of Ujjain, 122 _sqq._, 132 + +Vintage, first-fruits of the, offered to Icarius and Erigone, 283 + +Virbius or Hippolytus killed by horses, 214 + +Virgil, on the game of Troy, 76; + on the creation of the world, 108 _sq._ + +Vishnu, mock human sacrifice in the worship of, 216 + +Volcano, sacrifice of child to, 218 + +Vosges Mountains, superstition as to shooting stars in the, 67 + +Vrtra, the dragon, 106 _sq._ + +Wachtl in Moravia, drama of Summer and Winter at, 257 + +Wadai, Sultan of, 39 + +Wade, Sir Thomas, 273 _sq._ + +Waizganthos, an old Prussian god, 156 + +Wak, a sky-spirit, 181 + +Wambugwe, the, 65 + +Water, effigies of Death thrown into the, 234 _sqq._, 246 _sq._ + +---- -bird, a Whitsuntide mummer, 207 _n._1 + +---- -dragon, drama of the slaying of, 78 + +Weinhold, K., 57 _n._2 + +Wends, their custom of killing and eating the old, 14 + +Westermarck, Dr. E., 16 _n._1, 153 _n._1, 189 _n._2, 204_ n._1 + +Wheat at Lammas, offerings of, 101 + +Wheel, effigy of Death attached to a, 247 + +Whiteway, R. S., 51 _n._2 + +Whitsuntide, drama of Summer and Winter at, 257 + +---- King, 209 _sqq._ + +---- Mummers, 205 _sqq._ + +---- Queen, 210 + +Widow of king, succession to the throne through marriage with the, 193 + +Wieland's House, 77 + +Wild Man, a Whitsuntide mummer, 208 _sq._, 212 + +Winter, Queen of, in the Isle of Man, 258; + effigy of, burned at Zurich, 260 _sq._ + +---- and Summer, dramatic battle of, 254 _sqq._ + +Wolf, transformation into, 83; + said to have guided the Samnites, 186 _n._4 + +---- -god, Zeus as the, 83 + +Wolves, Soranian, 186 _n._4 + +Woman, Sawing the Old, a Lenten ceremony, 240 _sqq._ + +Wood, King of the, at Nemi, 28 + +Woodpecker (_picus_) said to have guided the Piceni, 186 _n._4; + sacred among the Latins, _ib._ + +Worship of dead kings, 24 _sq._ + +Wotjobaluk, the, 64 + +Wounding the dead or dying, custom of, 13 _sq._ + +Wrestling-matches in honour of the dead, 97 + +Wurmlingen in Swabia, Whitsuntide custom at, 207 _sq._; + the Carnival Fool at, 231 _sq._ + +Wyse, W., 144 + +Xeres, Fr., early Spanish historian, 185 + +Xerxes in Thessaly, 161, 163 + +Ximanas, an Indian tribe of the Amazon, kill all their firstborn children, + 185 _sq._ + +Yarilo, the funeral of, 261, 262 _sq._ + +Year, the Great, 70 + +Years, mode of counting the, in Manipur, 117 _n._1 + +Yerrunthally tribe of Queensland, 64 + +Yorubas, the, 41, 112 + +Youths and maidens, tribute of, sent to Minos, 74 _sqq._ + +Zagmuk, a Babylonian festival, 110 _sq._, 113, 115 _sqq._ + +Zeus, the grave of, 3; + oracular cave of, 70; + on Mount Lycaeus, 70 _n._1; + his transformations into animals, 82 _sq._; + the Wolf-god, 83; + the Olympic victors regarded as embodiments of, 90 _sq._; + swallows his wife Metis, 192; + his marriage with his sister Hera, 194; + and Europa, 73 + +---- and Hera, sacred marriage of, 91 + +---- Laphystian, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165 + +Zimmern, H., 111 _n._1 + +Zoganes at Babylon, 114 + +Zulu kings put to death, 36 _sq._ + +Zurich, effigies of Winter burnt at, 260 _sq._ + + + + + + +FOOTNOTES + + + M1 Mortality of savage gods, Greek gods. + + 1 For examples see M. Dobrizhoffer, _Historia de Abiponibus_ (Vienna, + 1784), ii. 92 _sq._, 240 _sqq._; C. Gay, "Fragment d'un voyage dans + le Chili et au Cusco," _Bulletin le la Societe de Geographie_ + (Paris), Deuxieme Serie, xix. (1843) p. 25; H. Delaporte, "Une + Visite chez les Araucaniens," _Bulletin de la Societe de Geographie_ + (Paris), Quatrieme Serie, x. (1855) p. 30; K. von den Steinen, + _Unter den Naturvoelkern Zentral-Brasiliens_ (Berlin, 1894), pp. 344, + 348; E. F. im Thurn, _Among the Indians of Guiana_ (London, 1883), + pp. 330 sq.; A. G. Morice, "The Canadian Denes," _Annual + Archaeological Report, 1905_; (Toronto, 1906), p. 207; (Sir) George + Grey, _Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery into North-West and + Western Australia_ (London, 1841), ii. 238; A. Oldfield, "The + Aborigines of Australia," _Transactions of the Ethnological Society + of London_, N.S. iii. (1865) p. 236; J. Dawson, _Australian + Aborigines_ (Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide, 1881), p. 63; Rev. G. + Taplin, "The Narrinyeri," _Native Tribes of South Australia_ + (Adelaide, 1879), p. 25; C. W. Schuermann, "The Aboriginal Tribes of + Port Lincoln," _Native Tribes of South Australia_, p. 237; H. E. A. + Meyer, in _Native Tribes of South Australia_, p. 195; R. Brough + Smyth, _The Aborigines of Victoria_ (Melbourne, 1878), i. 110, ii. + 289 _sq._; W. Stanbridge, in _Transactions of the Ethnological + Society of London_, New Series, i. (1861) p. 299; L. Fison and A. W. + Howitt, _Kamilaroi and Kurnai_, pp. 250 _sq._; A. L. P. Cameron, + "Notes on some Tribes of New South Wales," _Journal of the + Anthropological Institute_, xiv. (1885) pp. 361, 362 sq.; W. Ridley, + _Kamilaroi_, Second Edition (Sydney, 1875), p. 159; Baldwin Spencer + and F. J. Gillen, _Native Tribes of Central Australia_ (London, + 1899), pp. 46-48; _Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres + Straits_, v. (Cambridge, 1904) pp. 248, 323; E. Beardmore, "The + Natives of Mowat, British New Guinea," _Journal of the + Anthropological Institute_, xix. (1890) p. 461; R. E. Guise, "On the + Tribes inhabiting the Mouth of the Wanigela River, New Guinea," + _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxviii. (1899) p. 216; + C. G. Seligmann, _The Melanesians of British New Guinea_ (Cambridge, + 1910), p. 279; K. Vetter, _Komm herueber und hilf uns! oder die + Arbeit der Neuen-Dettelsauer Mission_, iii. (Barmen, 1898) pp. 10 + _sq._; _id._, in _Nachrichten ueber Kaiser-Wilhelmsland und den + Bismarck-Archipel_, 1897, pp. 94, 98; A. Deniau, "Croyances + religieuses et moeurs des indigenes de l'ile Malo," _Missions + Catholiques_, xxxiii. (1901) pp. 315 _sq._; C. Ribbe, _Zwei Jahre + unter den Kannibalen der Salomo-Inseln_ (Dresden-Blasewitz, 1903), + p. 268; P. A. Kleintitschen, _Die Kuestenbewohner der + Gazellehalbinsel_ (Hiltrup bei Muenster, N.D.), p. 344; P. Rascher, + "Die Sulka," _Archiv fuer Anthropologie_, xxix. (1904) pp. 221 _sq._; + R. Parkinson, _Dreissig Jahre in der Suedsee_ (Stuttgart, 1907), pp. + 199-201; G. Brown, D.D., _Melanesians and Polynesians_ (London, + 1910), p. 176; Father Abinal, "Astrologie Malgache," _Missions + Catholiques_, xi. (1879) p. 506; A. Grandidier, "Madagascar," + _Bulletin de la Societe de Geographie_ (Paris), Sixieme Serie, iii. + (1872) p. 399; Father Campana, "Congo, Mission Catholique de + Landana," _Missions Catholiques_, xxvii. (1895) pp. 102 _sq._; Th. + Masui, _Guide de la Section de l'Etat Independant du Congo a + l'Exposition de Bruxelles-Tervueren en 1897_ (Brussels, 1897), p. + 82. The discussion of this and similar evidence must be reserved for + another work. + + 2 C. Meiners, _Geschichte der Religionen_ (Hannover, 1806-1807), i. + 48. + + 3 R. I. Dodge, _Our Wild Indians_, p. 112. + + 4 F. Blumentritt, "Der Ahnencultus und die religioesen Anschauungen der + Malaien des Philippinen-Archipels," _Mittheilungen d. Wiener geogr. + Gesellschaft_, 1882, p. 198. + + 5 Sir James E. Alexander, _Expedition of Discovery into the Interior + of Africa_, i. 166; H. Lichtenstein, _Reisen im Suedlichen Africa_ + (Berlin, 1811-1812), i. 349 _sq._; W. H. I. Bleek, _Reynard the Fox + in South Africa_ (London, 1864), pp. 75 _sq._; Theophilus Hahn, + _Tsuni-Goam, the Supreme Being of the Khoi-Khoi_ (London, 1881), pp. + 56, 69. + + 6 Callimachus, _Hymn to Zeus_, 9 _sq._; Diodorus Siculus, iii. 61; + Lucian, _Philopseudes_, 3; _id._, _Jupiter Tragoedus_, 45; _id._, + _Philopatris_, 10; Porphyry, _Vita Pythagorae_, 17; Cicero, _De + natura deorum_, iii. 21. 53; Pomponius Mela, ii. 7. 112; Minucius + Felix, _Octavius_, 21; Lactantius, _Divin. instit._ i. II. + + 7 Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 35; Philochorus, _Fragm._ 22, in C. + Mueller's _Fragmenta historicorum Graecorum_, i. p. 378; Tatian, + _Oratio ad Graecos_, 8, ed. Otto; J. Tzetzes, _Schol. on Lycophron_, + 208. Compare Ch. Petersen, "Das Grab und die Todtenfeier des + Dionysos," _Philologus_, xv. (1860) pp. 77-91. The grave of Dionysus + is also said to have been at Thebes (Clemens Romanus, + _Recognitiones_, x. 24; Migne's _Patrologia Graeca_, i. col. 1434). + + 8 Porphyry, _Vit. Pythag._ 16. + + 9 Philochorus, _Fr._ 184, in C. Mueller's _Fragmenta historicorum + Graecorum_, ii. p. 414. + + 10 Ch. Lobeck, _Aglaophamus_ (Koenigsberg, 1829), pp. 574 _sq._ + + M2 Mortality of Egyptian gods. + + 11 G. Maspero, _Histoire ancienne des peuples de l'Orient classique: + les origines_, pp. 108-111, 116-118. On the mortality of the + Egyptian gods see further A. Moret, _Le Rituel du culte divin + journalier en Egypte_ (Paris, 1902), pp. 219 _sqq._ + + 12 Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 21, 22, 38, 61; Diodorus Siculus, i. 27. + 4; Dittenberger, _Orientis Graeci inscriptiones selectae_, i. No. + 56, p. 102. + + 13 A. Wiedemann, _Die Religion der alten Aegypter_, pp. 59 _sq._; G. + Maspero, _Histoire ancienne des peuples de l'Orient classique: les + origines_, pp. 104-108, 150. Indeed it was an article of the + Egyptian creed that every god must die after he had begotten a son + in his own likeness (A. Wiedemann, _Herodots zweites Buch_, p. 204). + Hence the Egyptian deities were commonly arranged in trinities of a + simple and natural type, each comprising a father, a mother, and a + son. "Speaking generally, two members of such a triad were gods, one + old and one young, and the third was a goddess, who was, naturally, + the wife, or female counterpart, of the older god. The younger god + was the son of the older god and goddess, and he was supposed to + possess all the attributes and powers which belonged to his + father.... The feminine counterpart or wife of the chief god was + usually a local goddess of little or no importance; on the other + hand, her son by the chief god was nearly as important as his + father, because it was assumed that he would succeed to his rank and + throne when the elder god had passed away. The conception of the + triad or trinity is, in Egypt, probably as old as the belief in + gods, and it seems to be based on the anthropomorphic views which + were current in the earliest times about them" (E. A. Wallis Budge, + _The Gods of the Egyptians_, London, 1904, i. 113 _sq._). If the + Christian doctrine of the Trinity took shape under Egyptian + influence, the function originally assigned to the Holy Spirit may + have been that of the divine mother. In the apocryphal _Gospel to + the Hebrews_, as Mr. F. C. Conybeare was kind enough to point out to + me, Christ spoke of the Holy Ghost as his mother. The passage is + quoted by Origen (_Comment. in Joan. II._ vol. iv. col. 132, ed. + Migne), and runs as follows: "My mother the Holy Spirit took me a + moment ago by one of my hairs and carried me away to the great Mount + Tabor." Compare Origen, _In Jeremiam Hom._ XV. 4, vol. iii. col. + 433, ed. Migne. In the reign of Trajan a certain Alcibiades, from + Apamea in Syria, appeared at Rome with a volume in which the Holy + Ghost was described as a stalwart female about ninety-six miles high + and broad in proportion. See Hippolytus, _Refut. omnium haeresium_, + ix. 13, p. 462, ed. Duncker and Schneidewin. The Ophites represented + the Holy Spirit as "the first woman," "mother of all living," who + was beloved by "the first man" and likewise by "the second man," and + who conceived by one or both of them "the light, which they call + Christ." See H. Usener, _Das Weihnachtsfest_, pp. 116 _sq._, quoting + Irenaeus, i. 28. As to a female member of the Trinity, see further + _id._, _Dreiheit, ein Versuch mythologischer Zahlenlehre_ (Bonn, + 1903), pp. 41 _sqq._; Gibbon, _Decline and Fall of the Roman + Empire_, ch. 1. vol. ix. p. 261, note g (Edinburgh, 1811). Mr. + Conybeare tells me that Philo Judaeus, who lived in the first half + of the first century of our era, constantly defines God as a Trinity + in Unity, or a Unity in Trinity, and that the speculations of this + Alexandrian Jew deeply influenced the course of Christian thought on + the mystical nature of the deity. Thus it seems not impossible that + the ancient Egyptian doctrine of the divine Trinity may have been + distilled through Philo into Christianity. On the other hand it has + been suggested that the Christian Trinity is of Babylonian origin. + See H. Zimmern, in E. Schrader's _Die Keilinschriften und das Alte + Testament_,3 pp. 418 _sq._, 440. + + 14 L. W. King, _Babylonian Religion and Mythology_ (London, 1899), p. + 8. + + M3 The death of the Great Pan. Death of the King of the Jinn. Death of + the Grape-cluster. + + 15 Plutarch, _De defectu oraculorum_, 17. + + 16 This is in substance the explanation briefly suggested by F. + Liebrecht, and developed more fully and with certain variations of + detail by S. Reinach. See F. Liebrecht, _Des Gervasius von Tilbury + Otia Imperialia_ (Hanover, 1856), p. 180; S. Reinach, _Cultes, + mythes et religions_, iii. (Paris, 1908), pp. 1 _sqq._ As to the + worship of Tammuz or Adonis in Syria and Greece see my _Adonis, + Attis, Osiris_, Second Edition (London, 1907). In Plutarch's + narrative confusion seems to have arisen through the native name + (Tammuz) of the deity, which either accidentally coincided with that + of the pilot (as S. Reinach thinks) or was erroneously transferred + to him by a narrator (as F. Liebrecht supposed). An entirely + different explanation of the story has been proposed by Dr. W. H. + Roscher. He holds that the god whose death was lamented was the + great ram-god of Mendes in Egypt, whom Greek writers constantly + mistook for a goat-god and identified with Pan. A living ram was + always revered as an incarnation of the god, and when it died there + was a great mourning throughout all the land of Mendes. Some stone + coffins of the sacred animal have been found in the ruins of the + city. See Herodotus, ii. 46, with A. Wiedemann's commentary; W. H. + Roscher, "Die Legende vom Tode des groszen Pan," _Fleckeisen's + Jahrbuecher fuer classische Philologie_, xxxviii. (1892) pp. 465-477. + Dr. Roscher shews that Thamus was an Egyptian name, comparing Plato, + _Phaedrus_, p. 274 D E; Polyaenus, iii. 2. 5; Philostratus, _Vit. + Apollon. Tyan._ vi. 5. 108. As to the worshipful goat, or rather + ram, of Mendes, see also Diodorus Siculus, i. 84; Strabo, xvii. 1. + 19, p. 802; Clement of Alexandria, _Protrept._ ii. 39, p. 34, ed. + Potter; Suidas, _s.v._ {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}. + + 17 F. Liebrecht, _op. cit._ pp. 180 _sq._; W. Robertson Smith, + _Religion of the Semites_,2 pp. 412, 414. The latter writer observes + with justice that "the wailing for 'Uncud, the divine Grape-cluster, + seems to be the last survival of an old vintage piaculum." "The + dread of the worshippers," he adds, "that the neglect of the usual + ritual would be followed by disaster, is particularly intelligible + if they regarded the necessary operations of agriculture as + involving the violent extinction of a particle of divine life." On + the mortality of the gods in general and of the Teutonic gods in + particular, see J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 263 _sqq._; + compare E. H. Meyer, _Mythologie der Germanen_ (Strasburg, 1903), p. + 288. As to the mortality of the Irish gods, see Douglas Hyde, + _Literary History of Ireland_ (London, 1899), pp. 80 _sq._ + + M4 Human gods are killed to prevent them from growing old and feeble. + + 18 "Der Muata Cazembe und die Voelkerstaemme der Maravis, Chevas, + Muembas, Lundas und andere von Sued-Afrika," _Zeitschrift fuer + allgemeine Erdkunde_, vi. (1856) p. 395; F. T. Valdez, _Six Years of + a Traveller's Life in Western Africa_ (London, 1861), ii. 241 _sq._ + + 19 See _Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, pp. 6, 7 _sq._ + + 20 See _Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, pp. 26 _sqq._ + + M5 Preference for a violent death: the sick and old killed. + + 21 W. W. Gill, _Myths and Songs of the South Pacific_ (London, 1876), + p. 163. + + 22 H. A. Junod, _Les Ba-Ronga_ (Neuchatel, 1898), pp. 381 _sq._ + + 23 W. Barbrooke Grubb, _An Unknown People in an Unknown Land_ (London, + 1911), p. 120. + + 24 T. C. Hodson, _The Naga Tribes of Manipur_ (London, 1911), p. 159. + + 25 Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_ (London, 1911), p. 281. + + 26 Ch. Wilkes, _Narrative of the U.S. Exploring Expedition_ (London, + 1845), iii. 96. + +_ 27 U.S. Exploring Expedition, Ethnology and Philology_, by H. Hale + (Philadelphia, 1846), p. 65. Compare Th. Williams, _Fiji and the + Fijians_,2 i. 183; J. E. Erskine, _Journal of a Cruise among the + Islands of the Western Pacific_ (London, 1853), p. 248. + + 28 G. Turner, _Samoa_, p. 335. + + 29 Martin Flad, _A Short Description of the Falasha and Kamants in + Abyssinia_, p. 19. + + 30 H. Diels, _Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker_,2 i. (Berlin, 1906) p. + 81; _id._, _Herakleitos von Ephesos_2 (Berlin, 1909), p. 50, Frag. + 136, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PSI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PSILI AND VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}. + + M6 Preference for a violent death: the sick and aged killed. + + 31 F. de Castelnau, _Expedition dans les parties centrales de + l'Amerique du Sud_, iv. (Paris, 1851) p. 380. Compare _id._ ii. 49 + _sq._ as to the practice of the Chavantes, a tribe of Indians on the + Tocantins river. + + 32 R. Southey, _History of Brazil_, iii. (London, 1819) p. 619; R. F. + Burton, in _The Captivity of Hans Stade of Hesse_ (Hakluyt Society, + London, 1874), p. 122. + + 33 C. von Dittmar, "Ueber die Koraeken und die ihnen sehr nahe verwandten + Tschuktschen," _Bulletin de la Classe philologique de l'Academie + Imperiale des Sciences de St-Petersbourg_, xiii. (1856) coll. 122, + 124 _sq._ The custom has now been completely abandoned. See W. + Jochelson, "The Koryak, Religion and Myths" (Leyden and New York, + 1905), p. 103 (_Memoir of the American Museum of Natural History, + The Jesup North Pacific Expedition_, vol. vi. part i.). + + 34 C. von Dittmar, _op. cit._ col. 132; De Wrangell, _Le Nord de la + Siberie_ (Paris, 1843), i. 263 _sq._; "Die Ethnographie Russlands + nach A. F. Rittich," _Petermann's Mittheilungen, Ergaenzungsheft_, + _No._ 54 (Gotha, 1878), pp. 14 _sq._; "Der Anadyr-Bezirk nach A. W. + Olssufjew," _Petermann's Mittheilungen_, xlv. (1899) p. 230; V. + Priklonski, "Todtengebraeuche der Jakuten," _Globus_, lix. (1891) p. + 82; R. von Seidlitz, "Der Selbstmord bei den Tschuktschen," _ib._ p. + 111; Cremat, "Der Anadyrbezirk Sibiriens und seine Bevoelkerung," + _Globus_, lxvi. (1894) p. 287; H. de Windt, _Through the Gold-fields + of Alaska to Bering Straits_ (London, 1898), pp. 223-225; W. + Bogaras, "The Chukchee" (Leyden and New York, 1904-1909), pp. 560 + _sqq._ (_Memoir of the American Museum of Natural History, The Jesup + North Pacific Expedition_, vol. vii.). + + 35 L. A. Waddell, "The Tribes of the Brahmaputra Valley," _Journal of + the Asiatic Society of Bengal_, lxix. part iii. (1901) pp. 20, 24; + T. C. Hodson, _The Naga Tribes of Manipur_ (London, 1911), p. 151. + + 36 K. Simrock, _Handbuch der deutschen Mythologie_,5 pp. 177 _sq._, + 507; H. M. Chadwick, _The Cult of Othin_ (London, 1899), pp. 13 + _sq._, 34 _sq._ + + 37 Procopius, _De bello Gothico_, ii. 14. + + 38 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Rechtsalterthuemer_,3 p. 488. A custom of putting + the sick and aged to death seems to have prevailed in several + branches of the Aryan family; it may at one time have been common to + the whole stock. See J. Grimm, _op. cit._ pp. 486 _sqq._; O. + Schrader, _Reallexikon der indogermanischen Altertumskunde_, pp. + 36-39. + + M7 Divine kings put to death. The Chitome of Congo. Ethiopian kings of + Meroe. + + 39 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 4 _sq._ + +_ 40 Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, pp. 5 _sq._ + + 41 J. B. Labat, _Relation historique de l'Ethiopie occidentale_ (Paris, + 1732), i. 260 _sq._; W. Winwood Reade, _Savage Africa_ (London, + 1863), p. 362. + + 42 G. Merolla, _Relazione del viaggio nel regno di Congo_ (Naples, + 1726), p. 76. The English version of this passage (Pinkerton's + _Voyages and Travels_, xvi. 228) has already been quoted by Sir John + Lubbock (Lord Avebury) in his _Origin of Civilisation_,4 pp. 358 + _sq._ In that version the native title of the pontiff is misspelt. + + 43 Diodorus Siculus, iii. 6; Strabo, xvii. 2. 3, p. 822. + + M8 Kings of Fazoql on the Blue Nile. + + 44 R. Lepsius, _Letters from Egypt, Ethiopia, and the peninsula of + Sinai_ (London, 1853), pp. 202, 204. I have to thank Dr. E. + Westermarck for pointing out these passages to me. Fazoql lies in + the fork between the Blue Nile and its tributary the Tumat. See J. + Russeger, _Reisen in Europa, Asien und Afrika_, ii. 2 (Stuttgart, + 1844), p. 552 note. + + 45 Brun-Rollet, _Le Nil Blanc et le Soudan_ (Paris, 1855), pp. 248 + _sq._ For the orgiastic character of these annual festivals, see + _id._ p. 245. Fazolglou is probably the same as Fazoql. The people + who practise the custom are called Bertat by E. Marno (_Reisen im + Gebiete des blauen und weissen Nil_ (Vienna, 1874), p. 68). + + 46 J. Russegger, _Reisen in Europa, Asien und Afrika_, ii. 2, p. 553. + Russegger met Assusa in January 1838, and says that the king had + then been a year in office. He does not mention the name of the + king's uncle who had, he tells us, been strangled by the chiefs; but + I assume that he was the Yassin who is mentioned by Brun-Rollet. + Russegger adds that the strangling of the king was performed + publicly, and in the most solemn manner, and was said to happen + often in Fazoql and the neighbouring countries. + + 47 R. Lepsius, _Letters from Egypt, Ethiopia, and the peninsula of + Sinai_ (London, 1853), p. 204. Lepsius's letter is dated "The + Pyramids of Meroe, 22nd April 1844." His informant was Osman Bey, + who had lived for sixteen years in these regions. An _anqareb_ or + _angareb_ is a kind of bed made by stretching string or leather + thongs over an oblong wooden framework. + + M9 Shilluk custom of putting divine kings to death. The Shilluk kings + supposed to be reincarnations of Nyakang, the semi-divine founder of + the dynasty. The shrines of Nyakang. + + 48 I have to thank Dr. Seligmann for his kindness and courtesy in + transmitting to me his unpublished account and allowing me to draw + on it at my discretion. + + 49 As to Juok (Cuok), the supreme being of the Shilluk, see P. W. + Hofmayr, "Religion der Schilluk," _Anthropos_, vi. (1911) pp. + 120-122, whose account agrees with the briefer one given by Dr. C. + G. Seligmann. Otiose supreme beings (_dieux faineants_) of this + type, who having made the world do not meddle with it and to whom + little or no worship is paid, are common in Africa. + + 50 P. W. Hofmayr, "Religion der Schilluk," _Anthropos_, vi. (1911) pp. + 123, 125. This writer gives Nykang as the name of the first Shilluk + king. + + 51 P. W. Hofmayr, _op. cit._ p. 123. + + 52 This is the view both of Dr. C. G. Seligmann and of Father P. W. + Hofmayr (_op. cit._ p. 123). + + 53 The word _kengo_ is applied only to the shrines of Nyakang and the + graves of the kings. Graves of commoners are called _roro_. + + M10 Annual rain-making ceremony performed at the shrines of Nyakang. + Harvest ceremony at the shrines of Nyakang. + + 54 On the use of flowing blood in rain-making ceremonies see _The Magic + Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 256, 257 _sq._ + + M11 Shilluk kings put to death when they shew signs of ill-health or + failing strength. + + 55 Dr. C. G. Seligmann, _The Shilluk Divine Kings_ (in manuscript). + + M12 Shilluk kings formerly liable to be attacked and killed at any time + by rival claimants to the throne. + + 56 On this subject Dr. Seligmann writes to me (March 9th, 1911) as + follows: "The assumption of the throne as the result of victory in + single combat doubtless occurred once; at the present day and + perhaps for the whole of the historic period it has been superseded + by the ceremonial killing of the king, but I regard these stories as + folk-lore indicating what once really happened." + + 57 These particulars I take from letters of Dr. C. G. Seligmann's to me + (dated 8th February and 9th March 1911). They are not mentioned in + the writer's paper on the subject. + + M13 Ceremonies at the accession of a Shilluk king. + M14 Worship of the dead Shilluk kings. + + 58 When one of the king's wives is with child, she remains at Fashoda + till the fourth or fifth month of her pregnancy; she is then sent + away to a village, not necessarily her own, where she remains under + the charge of the village chief until she has finished nursing the + child. Afterwards she returns to Fashoda, but the child invariably + remains in the village of his or her birth and is brought up there. + All royal children of either sex, in whatever part of the Shilluk + territory they may happen to die, are buried the village where they + were born. + + M15 Sick people and others supposed to be possessed by the spirits of + dead Shilluk kings. + M16 The principal element in the religion of the Shilluk is the worship + of their kings. The kings put to death in order to preserve their + divine spirit from natural decay, which would sympathetically affect + the crops, the cattle, and mankind. + + 59 As to the disappearance of the early Roman kings see _The Magic Art + and the Evolution of Kings_, vol. ii. pp. 312 _sqq._; as to the + disappearance of the early kings of Uganda, see the Rev. J. Roscoe, + _The Baganda_ (London, 1911), p. 214. + + M17 Parallel between the Shilluk kings and the King of the Wood at Nemi. + + 60 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 1 _sqq._, ii. 376 + _sqq._ + + M18 The Dinka of the Upper Nile. + + 61 "E. de Pruyssenaere's Reisen und Forschungen im Gebiete des Weissen + und Blauen Nil," _Petermann's Mittheilungen, Ergaenzungsheft_, No. 50 + (Gotha, 1877), pp. 18-23. Compare G. Schweinfurth, _The Heart of + Africa_, Third Edition (London, 1878), i. 48 _sqq._ In the text I + have followed de Pruyssenaere's description of the privations + endured by the Dinka in the dry season. But that description is + perhaps only applicable in seasons of unusual drought, for Dr. C. G. + Seligmann, writing from personal observation, informs me that he + regards the description as much overdrawn; in an average year, he + tells me, the cattle do not die of famine and the natives are not + starving. According to his information the drinking of the blood of + their cattle is a luxury in which the Dinka indulge themselves at + any time of the year. + + M19 Dengdit, the Supreme Being of the Dinka. Totemism of the Dinka. + + 62 For this and the following information as to the religion, totemism, + and rain-makers of the Dinka I am indebted to the kindness of Dr. C. + G. Seligmann, who investigated the Shilluk and Dinka in 1909-1910 + and has most obligingly placed his manuscript materials at my + disposal. + + M20 Rain-makers among the Dinka. + + 63 On the importance of the rain-makers among the Dinka and other + tribes of the Upper Nile, see _The Magic Art and the Evolution of + Kings_, i. 345 _sqq._ + + M21 Dinka rain-makers not allowed to die a natural death. + M22 Kings put to death in Unyoro and other parts of Africa. + +_ 64 Emin Pasha in Central Africa, being a Collection of his Letters and + Journals_ (London, 1888), p. 91; J. G. Frazer, _Totemism and + Exogamy_, ii. 529 _sq._ (from information given by the Rev. John + Roscoe). + + 65 Father Guilleme, in _Annales de la Propagation de la Foi_, lx. + (1888) p. 258; _id._, "Credenze religiose dei Negri di Kibanga nell' + Alto Congo," _Archivio per lo studio delle tradizioni popolari_, + vii. (1888) p. 231. + +_ 66 The Travels of the Jesuits in Ethiopia_, collected and historically + digested by F. Balthazar Tellez, of the Society of Jesus (London, + 1710), p. 197. We may compare the death of Saul (1 Samuel, xxxi. + 3-6). + + 67 Lieut. H. Pope-Hennessy, "Notes on the Jukos and other Tribes of the + Middle Benue," _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxx. + (1900) p. (29). + + 68 J. G. Frazer, _Totemism and Exogamy_, ii. 608, on the authority of + Mr. H. R. Palmer, Resident in Charge of Katsina. + + M23 The Matiamvo of Angola. + + 69 F. T. Valdez, _Six Years of a Traveller's Life in Western Africa_ + (London, 1861), ii. 194 _sq._ + + M24 Zulu kings put to death on the approach of old age. + + 70 Nathaniel Isaacs, _Travels and Adventures in Eastern Africa_ + (London, 1836), i. 295 _sq._, compare pp. 232, 290 _sq._ + + M25 Kings of Sofala put to death on account of bodily blemishes. + +_ 71 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 392. + + 72 J. dos Santos, "Eastern Ethiopia," in G. McCall Theal's _Records of + Southeastern Africa_, vii. (1901) pp. 194 _sq._ A more + highly-flavoured and full-bodied, though less slavishly accurate, + translation of this passage is given in Pinkerton's _Voyages and + Travels_, xvi. 684, where the English translator has enriched the + unadorned simplicity of the Portuguese historian's style with "the + scythe of time" and other flowers of rhetoric. + + 73 J. dos Santos, _op. cit._ p. 193. + + M26 Kings required to be unblemished. Courtiers required to imitate + their sovereign. + + 74 Xenophon, _Hellenica_, iii. 3. 3; Plutarch, _Agesilaus_, 3; _id._, + _Lysander_, 22; Pausanias, iii. 8. 9. + + 75 Herodotus, iii. 20; Aristotle, _Politics_, iv. 4. 4.; Athenaeus, + xiii. 20, p. 566. According to Nicolaus Damascenus (_Fr._ 142, in + _Fragmenta historicorum Graecorum_, ed. C. Mueller, iii. p. 463), the + handsomest and bravest man was only raised to the throne when the + king had no heirs, the heirs being the sons of his sisters. But this + limitation is not mentioned by the other authorities. + + 76 G. Nachtigal, _Sahara und Sudan_, iii. (Leipsic, 1889) p. 225; A. + Bastian, _Die deutsche Expedition an der Loango-Kueste_ (Jena, + 1874-75), i. 220. + + 77 P. W. Joyce, _Social History of Ancient Ireland_ (London, 1903), i. + 311. + + 78 Strabo, xvii. 2. 3, p. 823; Diodorus Siculus, iii. 7. + + 79 Mohammed Ebn-Omar El-Tounsy, _Voyage au Darfour_ (Paris, 1845), pp. + 162 _sq._; _Travels of an Arab Merchant in Soudan_, abridged from + the French by Bayle St. John (London, 1854), p. 78; _Bulletin de la + Societe de Geographie_ (Paris), IVme Serie, iv. (1852) pp. 539 _sq._ + + 80 R. W. Felkin, "Notes on the Waganda Tribe of Central Africa," in + _Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh_, xiii. (1884-1886) + p. 711; J. Roscoe, "Further Notes on the Manners and Customs of the + Baganda," _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. (1902) + p. 77 (as to sneezing). + +_ 81 Narrative of Events in Borneo and Celebes, from the Journal of + James Brooke, Esq., Rajah of Sarawak_, by Captain R. Mundy, i. 134. + My friend the late Mr. Lorimer Fison, in a letter of August 26th, + 1898, told me that the custom of falling down whenever a chief fell + was observed also in Fiji, where it had a special name, _bale muri_, + "fall-follow." + + 82 Mgr. Bruguiere, in _Annales de l'Association de la Propagation de la + Foi_, v. (1831) pp. 174 _sq._ + + M27 Kings of Eyeo put to death. Voluntary death by fire of the old + Prussian _Kirwaido_. + + 83 A. Dalzel, _History of Dahomy_ (London, 1793), pp. 12 _sq._, 156 + _sq._ + + 84 Father Baudin, "Le Fetichisme ou la religion des Negres de la + Guinee," _Missions Catholiques_, xvi. (1884) p. 215. + + 85 Missionary Holley, "Etude sur les Egbas," _Missions Catholiques_, + xiii. (1881) pp. 351 _sq._ Here Oyo is probably the same as Eyeo + mentioned above. + + 86 Simon Grunau, _Preussische Chronik_, herausgegeben von Dr. M. + Perlbach (Leipsic, 1876), i. p. 97. + + M28 Voluntary deaths by fire. Peregrinus at Olympia. Buddhist monks in + China. + + 87 Lucian, _De morte Peregrini_. That Lucian's account of the + mountebank's death is not a fancy picture is proved by the evidence + of Tertullian, _Ad martyres_, 4, "_Peregrinus qui non olim se rogo + immisit._" + + 88 D. S. Macgowan, M.D., "Self-immolation by Fire in China," _The + Chinese Recorder and Missionary Journal_, xix. (1888) pp. 445-451, + 508-521. + + 89 E. W. Nelson, "The Eskimo about Bering Strait," _Eighteenth Annual + Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology_, Part I. (Washington, + 1899), pp. 320, 433 _sq._ + + M29 Religious suicides in Russia. Belief in the approaching end of the + world. + + 90 Revelation xx. 1-3. + + 91 Revelation xiii. 18. + + M30 Epidemic of suicide. Suicide by starvation. Suicide by fire. + + 92 Ivan Stchoukine, _Le Suicide collectif dans le Raskol russe_ (Paris, + 1903), pp. 45-53, 61-78, 84-87, 96-99, 102-112. The mania in its + most extreme form died away towards the end of the seventeenth + century, but during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries cases of + collective suicide from religious motives occurred from time to + time, people burning themselves in families or in batches of thirty + or forty. The last of these suicides by fire took place in 1860, + when fifteen persons thus perished in the Government of Olonetz. + Twenty-four others buried themselves alive near Tiraspol in the + winter of 1896-97. See I. Stchoukine, _op. cit._ pp. 114-126. + + M31 A Jewish Messiah. + + 93 Voltaire, _Essai sur les Moeurs_, iii. 142-145 (_OEuvres completes de + Voltaire_, xiii. Paris, 1878). + + M32 Kings put to death after a fixed term. Suicide of the kings of + Quilacare at the end of a reign of twelve years. + + 94 Duarte Barbosa, _A Description of the Coasts of East Africa and + Malabar in the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century_ (Hakluyt Society, + London, 1866), pp. 172 _sq._ + + M33 Custom of the kings of Calicut. + + 95 L. di Varthema, _Travels_, translated by J. W. Jones and edited by + G. P. Badger (Hakluyt Society, London, 1863), p. 134. In a note the + Editor says that the name Zamorin (Samorin) according to some "is a + corruption of _Tamuri_, the name of the most exalted family of the + Nair caste." + + 96 Francis Buchanan, "Journey from Madras through the Countries of + Mysore, Canara, and Malabar," in Pinkerton's _Voyages and Travels_, + viii. 735. + + 97 Alex. Hamilton, "A New Account of the East Indies," in Pinkerton's + _Voyages and Travels_, viii. 374. + + M34 Fuller account of the Calicut custom. + M35 The _Maha Makham_ or Great Sacrifice at Calicut. + + 98 The sidereal revolution of Jupiter is completed in 11 years 314.92 + days (_Encyclopaedia Britannica_, Ninth Edition, _s.v._ "Astronomy," + ii. 808). The twelve-years revolution of Jupiter was known to the + Greek astronomers, from whom the knowledge may perhaps have + penetrated into India. See Geminus, _Eisagoge_, I, p. 10, ed. Halma. + + M36 The attack on the king. + + 99 W. Logan, _Malabar_ (Madras, 1887), i. 162-169. The writer describes + in particular the festival of 1683, when fifty-five men perished in + the manner described. + + M37 Custom of kings in Bengal. Custom of the kings of Passier. Custom of + Slavonic kings. + + 100 Sir H. M. Elliot, _The History of India as told by its own + Historians_, iv. 260. I have to thank Mr. R. S. Whiteway, of + Brownscombe, Shottermill, Surrey, for kindly calling my attention to + this and the following instance of the custom of regicide. + + 101 De Barros, _Da Asia, dos feitos, que os Portuguezes fizeram no + descubrimento e conquista dos mares e terras do Oriente_, Decada + Terceira, Liv. V. cap. i. pp. 512 _sq._ (Lisbon, 1777). + + 102 Saxo Grammaticus,_Historia Danica_, viii. pp. 410 _sq._, ed. P. E. + Mueller (p. 334 of Mr. Oliver Elton's English translation). + + M38 Custom of _Thalavettiparothiam_ in Malabar. Custom of the Sultans of + Java. + + 103 T. K. Gopal Panikkar (of the Madras Registration Department), + _Malabar and its Folk_ (Madras, N. D., preface dated Chowghaut, 8th + October 1900), pp. 120 _sq._ I have to thank my friend Mr. W. Crooke + for calling my attention to this account. + +_ 104 Voyage d'Ibn Batoutah_, texte arabe, accompagne d'une traduction + par C. Deffremery et B. R. Sanguinetti (Paris, 1853-58), iv. 246 + _sq._ + + M39 Religious suicides in India. + +_ 105 The Wonders of the East, by Friar Jordanus_, translated by Col. + Henry Yule (London, 1863, Hakluyt Society), pp. 32 _sq._ + +_ 106 India in the Fifteenth Century, being a Collection of Voyages to + India in the century preceding the Portuguese discovery of the Cape + of Good Hope_, edited by R. H. Major (Hakluyt Society, London, + 1857), "The Travels of Nicolo Conti in the East," pp. 27 _sq._ An + instrument of the sort described in the text (a crescent-shaped + knife with chains and stirrups attached to it for the convenience of + the suicide) used to be preserved at Kshira, a village of Bengal + near Nadiya: it was called a _karavat_. See _The Book of Ser Marco + Polo_, newly translated and edited by Colonel Henry Yule, Second + Edition (London, 1875), ii. 334. + + 107 Major P. R. T. Gurdon, _The Khasis_ (London, 1907), pp. 102 _sq._, + quoting Mr. Gait in the _Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal_ + for 1898. + + M40 Pretence of putting the king's proxy to death. Man killed at the + installation of a king of Cassange. + + 108 E. T. Dalton, _Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal_ (Calcutta, 1872), p. + 146. + + 109 F. T. Valdez, _Six Years of a Traveller's Life in Western Africa_ + (London, 1861), ii. 158-160. I have translated the title _Maquita_ + by "chief"; the writer does not explain it. + + M41 Sacrifice of the king's sons in Sweden: evidence of a nine years' + tenure of the throne. + +_ 110 Ynglinga Saga_, 29 (_The Heimskringla_, translated by S. Laing, i. + 239 sq.). Compare H. M. Chadwick, _The Cult of Othin_ (London, + 1899), p. 4. According to Messrs. Laing and Chadwick the sacrifice + took place every _tenth_ year. But I follow Prof. K. Weinhold who + translates "_hit tiunda hvert ar_" by "_alle neun Jahre_" ("Die + mystische Neunzahl bei den Deutschen," _Abhandlungen der koenig. + Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin_, 1897, p. 6). So in Latin + _decimo quoque anno_ should be translated "every ninth year." + + 111 Saxo Grammaticus, _Historia Danica_, iii. pp. 129-131, ed. P. E. + Mueller (pp. 98 _sq._ of Oliver Elton's English translation). + + 112 Adam of Bremen, _Descriptio insularum Aquilonis_, 27 (Migne's + _Patrologia Latina_, cxlvi. col. 644). See _The Magic Art and the + Evolution of Kings_, vol. ii. pp. 364 _sq._ + + M42 Limited tenure of the kingship in ancient Greece. The Spartan kings + appear formerly to have held office for periods of eight years only. + The dread of meteors shared by savages. + + 113 Plutarch, _Agis_, II. Plutarch says that the custom was observed "at + intervals of nine years" ({~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK KORONIS~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}), but the expression is + equivalent to our "at intervals of eight years." In reckoning + intervals of time numerically the Greeks included both the terms + which are separated by the interval, whereas we include only one of + them. For example, our phrase "every second day" would be rendered + in Greek {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, literally "every third day." Again, a + cycle of two years is in Greek _trieteris_, literally "a period of + three years"; a cycle of eight years is _ennaeteris_, literally "a + period of nine years"; and so forth. See Censorinus, _De die + natali_, 18. The Latin use of the ordinal numbers is similar, _e.g._ + our "every second year" would be _tertio quoque anno_ in Latin. + However, the Greeks and Romans were not always consistent in this + matter, for they occasionally reckoned in our fashion. The resulting + ambiguity is not only puzzling to moderns; it sometimes confused the + ancients themselves. For example, it led to a derangement of the + newly instituted Julian calendar, which escaped detection for more + than thirty years. See Macrobius, _Saturn._ i. 14. 13 _sq._; + Solinus, i. 45-47. On the ancient modes of counting in such cases + see A. Schmidt, _Handbuch der griechischen Chronologie_ (Jena, + 1888), pp. 95 _sqq._ According to Schmidt, the practice of adding + both terms to the sum of the intervening units was not extended by + the Greeks to numbers above nine. + +_ 114 Die Dorier_,2 ii. 96. + + M43 Superstitions of the Australian aborigines as to shooting stars. + + 115 E. Man, _Aboriginal Inhabitants of the Andaman Islands_, pp. 84 + _sq._ + + 116 W. E. Roth, _North Queensland Bulletin, No. 5, Superstition, Magic, + and Medicine_ (Brisbane, 1903), p. 8. + + 117 A. W. Howitt, _The Native Tribes of South-East Australia_, p. 429. + + 118 A. W. Howitt, _op. cit._ p. 430. One of the earliest writers on New + South Wales reports that the natives attributed great importance to + the falling of a star (D. Collins,_Account of the English Colony in + New South Wales_ (London, 1804), p. 383). + + 119 Spencer and Gillen, _Northern Tribes of Central Australia_, p. 627. + + 120 Spencer and Gillen, _op. cit._ pp. 488, 627 _sq._ + + 121 G. Thilenius, _Ethnographische Ergebnisse aus Melanesien_, ii. + (Halle, 1903) p. 129. + + M44 Superstitions of the negroes and other African races as to shooting + stars. + + 122 H. A. Junod, _Les Ba-ronga_ (Neuchatel, 1898), p. 470. + + 123 A. C. Hollis, _The Masai_ (Oxford, 1905), p. 316. + + 124 J. Campbell, _Travels in South Africa_ (London, 1815), pp. 428 _sq._ + +_ 125 Id._, _Travels in South Africa, Second Journey_ (London, 1822), ii. + 204. + + 126 G. Zuendel, "Land und Volk der Eweer auf der Sclavenkueste in + Westafrika," _Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft fuer Erdkunde zu Berlin_, + xii. (1877) pp. 415 _sq._; C. Spiess, "Religionsbegriffe der Evheer + in Westafrika," _Mittheilungen des Seminars fuer Orientalische + Sprachen zu Berlin_, vi. (1903) Dritte Abtheilung, p. 112. + + M45 Superstitions of the American Indians as to shooting stars. + + 127 Boscana, "Chinigchinich, a Historical Account of the Origin, etc., + of the Indians of St. Juan Capistrano," in A. Robinson's _Life in + California_ (New York, 1846), p. 299. + + 128 C. Lumholtz, _Unknown Mexico_ (London, 1903), i. 324 _sq._ + + 129 K. von den Steinen, _Unter den Naturvoelkern Zentral-Brasiliens_ + (Berlin, 1894), pp. 514 _sq._ The Peruvian Indians also made a + prodigious noise when they saw a shooting star. See P. de Cieza de + Leon, _Travels_ (Hakluyt Society, London, 1864), p. 232. + + 130 G. Kurze, "Sitten und Gebraeuche der Lengua-Indianer," _Mitteilungen + der Geographischen Gesellschaft zu Jena_, xxiii. (1905) p. 17; W. + Barbrooke Grubb, _An Unknown People in an Unknown Land_ (London, + 1911), p. 163. + + 131 M. Dobrizhoffer, _Historia de Abiponibus_ (Vienna, 1784), ii. 86. + + M46 Shooting stars regarded as demons. + + 132 W. Tetzlaff, "Notes on the Laughlan Islands," _Annual Report on + British New Guinea, 1890-91_ (Brisbane, 1892), p. 105. + + 133 H. Oldenberg, _Die Religion des Veda_, p. 267. + + 134 W. Crooke, _Popular Religion and Folklore of Northern India_ + (Westminster, 1906), ii. 22. + + 135 Holzmayer, "Osiliana," _Verhandlungen der gelehrten Estnischen + Gesellschaft zu Dorpat_, vii. (1872) p. 48. + + 136 Guillain, _Documents sur l'histoire, la geographie, et le commerce + de l'Afrique Orientale_, ii. (Paris, N.D.) p. 97; C. Velten, _Sitten + und Gebraeuche der Suaheli_ (Goettingen, 1903), pp. 339 _sq._; C. B. + Klunzinger, _Upper Egypt_ (London, 1878), p. 405; Budgett Meakin, + _The Moors_ (London, 1902), p. 353. + + M47 Shooting stars associated with the souls of the dead. Supposed + relation of the stars to men. + + 137 E. Dieffenbach, _Travels in New Zealand_ (London, 1843), ii. 66. + According to another account, meteors are regarded by the Maoris as + betokening the presence of a god (R. Taylor, _Te Ika a Maui, or New + Zealand and its Inhabitants_,2 p. 147). + + 138 Ch. Wilkes, _Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition_, + v. 88. + + 139 A. W. Howitt, _Native Tribes of South-East Australia_, p. 369. + + 140 A. W. Howitt, in Brough Smyth's _Aborigines of Victoria_, ii. 309. + + 141 E. Palmer, "Notes on some Australian Tribes," _Journal of the + Anthropological Institute_, xiii. (1884) p. 292. Sometimes + apparently the Australian natives regard crystals or broken glass as + fallen stars, and treasure them as powerful instruments of magic. + See E. M. Curr, _The Australian Race_, iii. 29; W. E. Roth, _North + Queensland Ethnography, Bulletin No. 5_, p. 8. + + 142 J. Macgillivray, _Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake_ + (London, 1852), ii. 30. + + 143 P. A. Kleintitschen, _Die Kuestenbewohner der Gazellehalbinsel_ + (Hiltrup bei Muenster, N.D.), p. 227. + + 144 P. Rascher, "Die Sulka," _Archiv fuer Anthropologie_, xxix. (1904) p. + 216. + + 145 Dudley Kidd, _Savage Childhood_ (London, 1906), p. 149. + + 146 J. Halkin, _Quelques Peuplades du district de l'Uele_ (Liege, 1907), + p. 102. + + 147 O. Baumann, _Durch Massailand zur Nilquelle_ (Berlin, 1894), p. 163. + + 148 O. Baumann, _Durch Massailand zur Nilquelle_ (Berlin, 1894), p. 188. + + 149 E. Petitot, _Monographie des Dene-Dindje_ (Paris, 1876), p. 60; + _id._, _Monographie des Esquimaux Tchiglit_ (Paris, 1876), p. 24. + + 150 A. Henry, "The Lolos and other Tribes of Western China," _Journal of + the Anthropological Institute_, xxxiii. (1903) p. 103. + + 151 Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ ii. 28. + + M48 Modern European beliefs as to meteors. Various beliefs as to stars + and meteors. + + 152 F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_, ii. 293; A. Kuhn und + W. Schwartz, _Norddeutsche Sagen, Maerchen und Gebraeuche_, p. 457, § + 422; E. Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebraeuche aus Schwaben_, + p. 506, §§ 379, 380. + + 153 P. Sebillot, _Traditions et superstitions de la Haute-Bretagne_, ii. + 353; J. Haltrich, _Zur Volkskunde der Siebenbuerger Sachsen_ (Vienna, + 1885), p. 300; W. Schmidt, _Das Jahr und seine Tage in Meinung und + Brauch der Romaenen Siebenbuergens_, p. 38; E. Gerard, _The Land + beyond the Forest_, i. 311; J. V. Grohmann, _Aberglauben und + Gebraeuche aus Boehmen und Maehren_, p. 31, § 164; Br. Jelinek, + "Materialien zur Vorgeschichte und Volkskunde Boehmens," + _Mittheilungen der anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien_, xxi. + (1891) p. 25; G. Finamore, _Credenze, usi e costumi Abruzzesi_, pp. + 47 _sq._; M. Placucci, _Usi e pregiudizj dei contadini della + Romagna_ (Palermo, 1885), p. 141; Holzmayer, "Osiliana," _Verhandl. + der gelehrten Estnischen Gesellschaft zu Dorpat_, vii. (1872) p. 48. + The same belief is said to prevail in Armenia. See Minas Tcheraz, + "Notes sur la mythologie armenienne," _Transactions of the Ninth + International Congress of Orientalists_ (London, 1893), ii. 824. + Bret Harte has employed the idea in his little poem, "Relieving + Guard." + + 154 H. Lew, "Der Tod und die Beerdigungs-gebraeuche bei den polnischen + Juden," _Mittheilungen der anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien_, + xxxii. (1902) p. 402. + + 155 A. Schlossar, "Volksmeinung und Volksaberglaube aus der deutschen + Steiermark," _Germania_, N.R., xxiv. (1891) p. 389. + + 156 Boecler-Kreutzwald, _Der Ehsten aberglaeubische Gebraeuche, Weisen und + Gewohnheiten_ (St. Petersburg, 1854), p. 73. + + 157 E. Monseur, _Le Folklore wallon_, p. 61; A. de Nore, _Coutumes, + mythes et traditions des provinces de France_, pp. 101, 160, 223, + 267, 284; B. Souche, _Croyances, presages et traditions diverses_, + p. 23; P. Sebillot, _Traditions et superstitions de la + Haute-Bretagne_, ii. 352; J. Lecoeur, _Esquisses du bocage normand_, + ii. 13; L. Pineau, _Folk-lore du Poitou_ (Paris, 1892), pp. 525 + _sq._ + + 158 L. F. Sauve. _Le Folk-lore des Hautes-Vosges_ (Paris, 1889), pp. 196 + _sq._ + + 159 F. Chapiseau, _Le Folk-lore de la Beauce et du Perche_ (Paris, + 1902), i. 290; G. Finamore, _Credenze, usi e costumi Abruzzesi_ + (Palermo, 1890), p. 48. + +_ 160 North Indian Notes and Queries_, i. p. 102, § 673. Compare _id._ p. + 47, § 356; _Indian Notes and Queries_, iv. p. 184, § 674; W. Crooke, + _Popular Religion and Folklore of Northern India_ (Westminster, + 1896), i. 82. + + 161 W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_,2 iii. 171. + + 162 Maximilian Prinz zu Wied, _Reise in das Innere Nord-America_ + (Coblenz, 1839-1841), ii. 152. It does not, however, appear from the + writer's statement whether the descent of the soul was identified + with the flight of a meteor or not. + + 163 D. C. J. Ibbetson, _Outlines of Panjab Ethnography_ (Calcutta, + 1883), p. 118, § 231. + + M49 The fall of the king's star. + M50 Reasons for limiting a king's reign to eight years. The octennial + cycle based on an attempt to reconcile solar and lunar time. + + 164 L. Ideler, _Handbuch der mathematischen und technischen + Chronologie_, ii. 605 _sqq._ Ninety-nine lunar months nearly + coincide with eight solar years, as the ancients well knew + (Sozomenus, _Historia ecclesiastica_, vii. 18). On the religious and + political import of the eight years' cycle in ancient Greece see + especially K. O. Mueller, _Orchomenus und die Minyer_,2 pp. 213-218; + _id._, _Die Dorier_,2 i. 254 _sq._, 333 _sq._, 440, ii. 96, 483; + _id._, _Prolegomena zu einer wissenschaftlichen Mythologie_ + (Goettingen, 1825), pp. 422-424. + + 165 "Ancient opinion even assigned the regulation of the calendar by the + solstices and equinoxes to the will of the gods that sacrifices + should be rendered at similar times in each year, rather than to the + strict requirements of agriculture; and as religion undoubtedly + makes larger demands on the cultivator as agriculture advances, the + obligations of sacrifice may probably be reckoned as of equal + importance with agricultural necessities in urging the formation of + reckonings in the nature of a calendar" (E. J. Payne, _History of + the New World called America_, ii. 280). + + M51 The octennial cycle in relation to the Greek doctrine of rebirth. + + 166 As to the eight years' servitude of Apollo and Cadmus for the + slaughter of dragons, see below, p. 78. For the nine years' penance + of the man who had tasted human flesh at the festival of Zeus on + Mount Lycaeus, see Pliny, _Nat. hist._ viii. 81 _sq._; Augustine, + _De civitate Dei_, xviii. 17; Pausanias, viii. 2. 6; compare Plato, + _Republic_, viii. p. 565 D E. Any god who forswore himself by the + water of Styx was exiled for nine years from the society of his + fellow-gods (Hesiod, _Theogony_, 793-804). On this subject see + further, E. Rohde, _Psyche_,3 ii. 211 _sq._; W. H. Roscher, "Die + enneadischen und hebdomadischen Fristen und Wochen der aeltesten + Griechen," _Abhandlungen der philolog.-histor. Klasse der Koenigl. + Saechsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften_, xxi. No. 4 (1903), pp. + 24 _sqq._ + + 167 Plato, _Meno_, p. 81 A-C; Pindar, ed. Boeckh, vol. iii. pp. 623 + _sq._, Frag. 98. + + M52 The octennial cycle at Cnossus in Crete. King Minos and Zeus. Sacred + marriage of the king and queen of Cnossus in the form of bull and + cow as symbols of the sun and moon. + + 168 Homer, _Odyssey_, xix. 178 _sq._, + + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK KORONIS~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}. + + with the Scholia; Plato, _Laws_, i. I. p. 624 A, B;[_id._] _Minos_, + 13 _sq._, pp. 319 _sq._; Strabo, ix. 4. 8, p. 476; Maximus Tyrius, + _Dissert._ xxxviii. 2; _Etymologicum magnum_, _s.v._ {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}, p. + 343, 23 _sqq._; Valerius Maximus, i. 2, ext. I; compare Diodorus + Siculus, v. 78. 3. Homer's expression, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}, has been + variously explained. I follow the interpretation which appears to + have generally found favour both with the ancients, including Plato, + and with modern scholars. See K. Hoeck, _Kreta_, i. 244 _sqq._; K. + O. Mueller,_Die Dorier_,2 ii. 96; G. F. Unger, "Zeitrechnung der + Griechen und Roemer," in Ivan Mueller's _Handbuch der klassischen + Altertumswissenschaft_, i. 569; A. Schmidt, _Handbuch der + griechischen Chronologie_ (Jena, 1888), p. 65; W. H. Roscher, "Die + enneadischen und hebdomadischen Fristen und Wochen der aeltesten + Griechen," _Abhandlungen der philolog.-histor. Klasse der Koenigl. + Saechsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften_, xxi. No. 4 (Leipsic, + 1903), pp. 22 _sq._; E. Rohde, _Psyche_,3 i. 128 _sq._ Literally + interpreted, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} means "for nine years," not "for eight years." + But see above, p. 59, note 1. + + 169 Apollodorus, iii. 1. 3 _sq._, iii. 15. 8; Diodorus Siculus, iv. 77; + Schol. on Euripides, _Hippolytus_, 887; J. Tzetzes, _Chiliades_, i. + 479 _sqq._; Hyginus, _Fabulae_, 40; Virgil, _Ecl._ vi. 45 _sqq._; + Ovid, _Ars amat._ i. 289 _sqq._ + + 170 K. Hoeck, _Kreta_, ii. (Goettingen, 1828) pp. 63-69; L. Preller, + _Griechische Mythologie_,3 ii. 119-123; W. H. Roscher, _Ueber Selene + mid Verwandtes_ (Leipsic, 1890), pp. 135-139; _id._, _Nachtraege zu + meiner Schrift ueber Selene_ (Leipsic, 1895), p. 3; Tuerk, in W. H. + _Roscher's Lexikon der griech. und roem. Mythologie_, iii. 1666 + _sq._; A. J. Evans, "Mycenaean Tree and Pillar Cult," _Journal of + Hellenic Studies_, xxi. (1901) p. 181; A. B. Cook, "Zeus, Jupiter, + and the Oak," _Classical Review_, xvii. (1903) pp. 406-412; compare + _id._, "The European Sky-god," _Folklore_, xv. (1904) p. 272. All + these writers, except Mr. Cook, regard Minos and Pasiphae as + representing the sun and moon. Mr. Cook agrees so far as relates to + Minos, but he supposes Pasiphae to be a sky-goddess or sun-goddess + rather than a goddess of the moon. On the other hand, he was the + first to suggest that the myth was periodically acted by the king + and queen of Cnossus disguised in bovine form. + + 171 Compare _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 368 _sq._ + + 172 Bekker's _Anecdota Graeca_, i. 344, _s.v._ {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}. + + 173 Eusebius, _Praeparatio Evangelii_, iii. 13. 1 _sq._; Diodorus + Siculus, i. 84. 4, i. 88. 4; Strabo, xvii. 1. 22 and 27, pp. 803, + 805; Aelian, _De natura animalium_, xi. II; Suidas, _s.v._ {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI AND PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}; + Ammianus Marcellinus, xxii. 14. 7; A. Wiedemann, _Herodots Zweites + Buch_, p. 552; A. Erman, _Die aegyptische Religion_ (Berlin, 1905), + p. 26; E. A. Wallis Budge, _The Gods of the Egyptians_ (London, + 1904), i. 330. + + 174 E. A. Wallis Budge, _The Gods of the Egyptians_, i. 25. + + 175 Pausanias, i. 26. 1. For a description of the scenery of this coast, + see Morritt, in Walpole's _Memoirs relating to European Turkey_, i.2 + p. 54. + + 176 W. H. Roscher, _Ueber Selene und Verwandtes_, pp. 30-33. + + 177 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 130 _sqq._ We + are told that Egyptian sovereigns assumed the masks of lions, bulls, + and serpents as symbols of power (Diodorus Siculus, i. 62. 4). + + M53 The same myth and custom of the marriage of the sun and moon appear + in the stories of Zeus and Europa, of Minos and Britomartis. The + conjunction of the sun and moon regarded as the best time for + marriages. Octennial marriage of the king and queen as + representatives of the sun and moon. + + 178 As to Minos and Britomartis or Dictynna, see Callimachus, _Hymn to + Diana_, 189 _sqq._; Pausanias, ii. 30. 3; Antoninus Liberalis, + _Transform._ 40; Diodorus Siculus, v. 76. On Britomartis as a + moon-goddess, see K. Hoeck, _Kreta_, ii. 170; W. H. Roscher, _Ueber + Selene und Verwandtes_, pp. 45 _sq._, 116-118. Hoeck acutely + perceived that the pursuit of Britomartis by Minos "is a trait of + old festival customs in which the conceptions of the sun-god were + transferred to the king of the island." As to the explanation here + adopted of the myth of Zeus and Europa, see K. Hoeck, _Kreta_, i. 90 + _sqq._; W. H. Roscher, _op. cit._ pp. 128-135. Moschus describes + (ii. 84 _sqq._) the bull which carried off Europa as yellow in + colour with a silver circle shining on his forehead, and he compares + the bull's horns to those of the moon. + + 179 See W. H. Roscher, _op. cit._ pp. 76-82. Amongst the passages of + classical writers which he cites are Plutarch, _De facie in orbe + lunae_, 30; _id._, _Isis et Osiris_, 52; Cornutus, _Theologiae + Graecae compendium_, 34, p. 72, ed. C. Lang; Proclus, on Hesiod, + _Works and Days_, 780; Macrobius, _Commentar. in Somnium Scipionis_, + i. 18. 10 _sq._; Pliny, _Nat. hist._ ii. 45. When the sun and moon + were eclipsed, the Tahitians supposed that the luminaries were in + the act of copulation (J. Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to the Southern + Pacific Ocean_ (London, 1799), p. 346). + + M54 Octennial tribute of youths and maidens probably required as a means + of renewing the sun's fire by human sacrifices. The Minotaur a + bull-headed image of the sun. + + 180 Plutarch, _Theseus_, 15 _sq._; Diodorus Siculus, iv. 61; Pausanias, + i. 27. 10; Ovid, _Metam._ viii. 170 _sq._ According to another + account, the tribute of youths and maidens was paid every year. See + Virgil, _Aen._ vi. 14 _sqq._, with the commentary of Servius; + Hyginus, _Fabulae_, 41. + + 181 Apollodorus, i. 9. 26; Apollonius Rhodius, _Argon._ iv. 1638 _sqq._, + with the scholium; Agatharchides, in Photius, _Bibliotheca_, p. + 443b, lines 22-25, ed. Bekker; Lucian, _De saltatione_, 49; + Zenobius, v. 85; Suidas, _s.v._ {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}; Eustathius on + Homer, _Odyssey_, xx. 302, p. 1893; Schol. on Plato, _Republic_, i. + p. 337A. + + 182 Apollodorus, i. 9. 26. + + 183 Hesychius, _s.v._ {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}. + + 184 Diodorus Siculus, xx. 14; Clitarchus, cited by Suidas, _s.v._ + {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, and by the Scholiast on Plato, _Republic_, p. 337A; + Plutarch, _De superstitione_, 13; Paulus Fagius, quoted by Selden, + _De dis Syris_ (Leipsic, 1668), pp. 169 _sq._ The calf's head of the + idol is mentioned only by P. Fagius, who drew his account from a + book Jalkut by Rabbi Simeon. + + 185 Compare M. Mayer, _s.v._ "Kronos," in W. H. Roscher's _Lexikon d. + griech. u. roem. Mythologie_, iii. 1501 _sqq._ + + 186 J. Tzetzes, _Chiliades_, i. 646 _sqq._ + + M55 Dance of the youths and maidens at Cnossus. + + 187 Homer, _Iliad_, xviii. 590 _sqq._ + + 188 Plutarch, _Theseus_, 21; Julius Pollux, iv. 101. + + M56 The game of Troy. + + 189 As to the Game of Troy, see Virgil, _Aen._ v. 545-603; Plutarch, + _Cato_, 3; Tacitus, _Annals_, xi. 11; Suetonius, _Augustus_, 43; + _id._, _Tiberius_, 6; _id._, _Caligula_, 18; _id._, _Nero_, 6; W. + Smith's _Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities_,3 _s.v._ "Trojae + ludus"; O. Benndorf, "Das Alter des Trojaspieles," appended to W. + Reichel's _Ueber homerische Waffen_ (Vienna, 1894), pp. 133-139. + + 190 O. Benndorf, _op. cit._ pp. 133 _sq._ + + 191 B. V. Head, _Historia numorum_ (Oxford, 1887), pp. 389-391. + + 192 O. Benndorf, _op. cit._ pp. 134 _sq._ + + 193 Pliny, _Nat. hist._ xxxvi. 85. + + 194 O. Benndorf, _op. cit._ p. 135; W. Meyer, "Ein Labyrinth mit + Versen," _Sitzungsberichte der philosoph. philolog. und histor_. + _Classe der k. b. Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Muenchen_, 1882, + vol. ii. pp. 267-300. + + M57 The dance at Cnossus perhaps an imitation of the sun's course in the + sky. + + 195 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 312. + + 196 B. V. Head, _Historia numorum_, p. 389. + + M58 Conclusions as to the king of Cnossus. + M59 Octennial festivals of the Crowning at Delphi and the Laurel-bearing + at Thebes. Both represented dramatically the slaying of a + water-dragon. + + 197 Censorinus, _De die natali_, 18. 6. + + 198 The suggestion was made by Mr. A. B. Cook. The following discussion + of the subject is founded on his ingenious exposition. See his + article, "The European Sky-god," _Folklore_, xv. (1904) pp. 402-424. + + 199 As to the Delphic festival see Plutarch, _Quaest. Graec._ 12; _id._, + _De defectu oraculorum_, 15; Strabo, ix. 3. 12, pp. 422 _sq._; + Aelian, _Var. hist._ iii. 1; Stephanus Byzantius, _s.v._ {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}; + K. O. Mueller, _Die Dorier_,2 i. 203 _sqq._, 321-324; Aug. Mommsen, + _Delphika_ (Leipsic, 1878), pp. 206 _sqq._; Th. Schreiber, _Apollo + Pythoktonos_, pp. 9 _sqq._; my note on Pausanias, ii. 7. 7 (vol. ii. + 53 _sqq._). As to the Theban festival, see Pausanias, ix. 10. 4, + with my note; Proclus, quoted by Photius, _Bibliotheca_, p. 321, ed. + Bekker; Aug. Boeckh, in his edition of Pindar, _Explicationes_, p. + 590; K. O. Mueller, _Orchomenus und die Minyer_,2 pp. 215 _sq._; + _id._, _Dorier_,2 i. 236 _sq._, 333 _sq._; C. Boetticher, _Der + Baumkultus der Hellenen_, pp. 386 _sqq._; G. F. Schoemann, + _Griechische Alterthuemer_,4 ii. 479 _sq._ + + 200 Apollodorus, iii. 4. 2, iii. 10. 4; Servius, on Virgil, _Aen._ vii. + 761. The servitude of Apollo is traditionally associated with his + slaughter of the Cyclopes, not of the dragon. But see my note on + Pausanias, ii. 7. 7 (vol. ii. pp. 53 _sqq._). + + 201 W. H. Roscher's _Lexikon d. griech. und roem. Mythologie_, ii. 830, + 838, 839. On an Etruscan mirror the scene of Cadmus's combat with + the dragon is surrounded by a wreath of laurel (Roscher, _op. cit._ + ii. 862). Mr. A. B. Cook was the first to call attention to these + vase-paintings in confirmation of my view that the Festival of the + Laurel-bearing celebrated the destruction of the dragon by Cadmus + (_Folklore_, xv. (1904) p. 411, note 224). + + 202 Pausanias, ix. 10. 2; K. O. Mueller, _Die Dorier_,2 i. 237 _sq._ + + 203 For evidence of the wide diffusion of the myth and the drama, see + Th. Schreiber, _Apollon Pythoktonos_, pp. 39-50. The Laurel-bearing + Apollo was worshipped at Athens, as we know from an inscription + carved on one of the seats in the theatre. See E. S. Roberts and E. + A. Gardner, _Introduction to Greek Epigraphy_, ii. (Cambridge, 1905) + p. 467, No. 247. + + M60 Both at Delphi and at Thebes the dragon seems to have guarded the + oracular spring and the oracular tree. The crown of laurel and the + crown of oak. The Festival of Crowning at Delphi originally + identical with the Pythian games. + + 204 Apollodorus, iii. 4. 3; Schol. on Homer, _Iliad_, ii. 494; + Pausanias, ix. 10. 5; _Homeric Hymn to Apollo_, 300 _sq._ The writer + of the Homeric hymn merely says that Apollo slew the Delphic dragon + at a spring; but Pausanias (x. 6. 6) tells us that the beast guarded + the oracle. + + 205 Pausanias, x. 8. 9, x. 24. 7, with my notes; Ovid, _Amores_, i. 15. + 35 _sq._; Lucian, _Jupiter tragoedus_, 30; Nonnus, _Dionys._ iv. 309 + _sq._; Suidas, _s.v._ {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}. + + 206 W. H. Roscher, _Lexikon d. griech. u. roem. Mythologie_, ii. 830, + 838. + + 207 Euripides, _Iphigenia in Tauris_, 1245 _sq._, where the reading + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} is clearly corrupt. + + 208 Lucian, _Bis accusatus_, I. So the priest of the Clarian Apollo at + Colophon drank of a secret spring before he uttered oracles in verse + (Tacitus, _Annals_, ii. 54; Pliny, _Nat. hist._ ii. 232). + + 209 Euripides, _Iphigenia in Tauris_, 1245 _sqq._; Apollodorus, i. 4. I; + Pausanias, x. 6. 6; Aelian, _Var. hist._ iii. i; Hyginus, _Fabulae_, + 140; Schol. on Homer, _Iliad_, ii. 519; Schol. on Pindar, _Pyth._ + Argument, p. 298, ed. Boeckh. + + 210 Euripides, _Hercules Furens_, 395 _sqq._; Apollodorus, ii. 5. II; + Diodorus Siculus, iv. 26; Eratosthenes, _Catasterism._ 3; Schol. on + Euripides, _Hippolytus_, 742; Schol. on Apollonius Rhodius, _Argon_, + iv. 1396. + + 211 A. B. Cook, "The European Sky-god," _Folklore_, xv. (1904) p. 413. + + 212 Ovid, _Metam._ i. 448 _sqq._ + + 213 Clement of Alexandria, _Protrept._ i. I, p. 2, and ii. 34, p. 29, + ed. Potter; Aristotle, _Peplos_, Frag. (_Fragmenta historicorum + Graecorum_, ii. p. 189, No. 282, ed. C. Mueller); John of Antioch, + Frag. i. 20 (_Frag. histor. Graec._ iv. p. 539, ed. C. Mueller); + Jamblichus, _De Pythagor. vit._ x. 52; Schol. on Pindar, _Pyth._ + Argum. p. 298, ed. Boeckh; Ovid, _Metam._ i. 445 _sqq._; Hyginus, + _Fabulae_, 140. + + 214 Schol. on Pindar, _l.c._; Censorinus, _De die natali_, 18. 6; + compare Eustathius on Homer, _Od._ iii. 267, p. 1466. 29. + + 215 Plutarch, _De defectu oraculorum_, 3, compared with _id._ 15; Aug. + Mommsen, _Delphika_, pp. 211, 214; Th. Schreiber, _Apollon + Pythoktonos_ (Leipsic, 1879), pp. 32 _sqq._ + + 216 Aelian, _Var. hist._ iii. I; Schol. on Pindar, _l.c._ + + 217 On the original identity of the festivals see Th. Schreiber, + _Apollon Pythoktonus_, pp. 37 _sq._; A. B. Cook, in _Folklore_, xv. + (1904) pp. 404 _sq._ + + 218 The inference was drawn by Mr. A. B. Cook, whom I follow. See his + article, "The European Sky-god," _Folk-lore_, xv. (1904) pp. 412 + _sqq_. + + M61 Substitution of the laurel for the oak. + + 219 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, vol. i. p. 8. + + 220 Aelian, _Var. hist._ iii. 1; Schol. on Pindar, _Pyth._ Argum. p. + 298, ed. Boeckh. + + 221 A. B. Cook, "The European Sky-god," _Folk-lore_, xv. (1904) pp. 423 + _sq_. + + 222 Pausanias, ix. 3. 4. See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, + vol. ii. p. 140. + + M62 Hypothesis of octennial kings at Delphi and Thebes, who personated + dragons or serpents. Animals sacred to royal families. Greek stories + of the transformation of gods into beasts point to a custom of a + sacred marriage in which the actors masqueraded as animals. + + 223 A. B. Cook, "The European Sky-god," _Folk-lore_, xv. (1904) pp. 402 + _sqq_. + + M63 Analogy of the Wolf Society of Arcadia to the Leopard Society of + west Africa. + + 224 Plato, _Republic_, viii. p. 565 D E; Polybius, vii. 13; Pliny, _Nat. + hist._ viii. 81; Varro, cited by Augustine, _De civitate Dei_, + xviii. 17; Pausanias, vi. 8. 2, viii. 2. 3-6. + + 225 Mary H. Kingsley, _Travels in West Africa_, pp. 536-543; T. J. + Alldridge, _The Sherbro and its Hinterland_ (London, 1901), pp. + 153-159; compare R. H. Nassau, _Fetichism in West Africa_ (London, + 1904), pp. 200-203. + + 226 T. J. Alldridge, _op. cit._ p. 154. + + 227 A. Bastian, _Die deutsche Expedition an der Loango-Kueste_, ii. 248. + + M64 Legend of the transformation of Cadmus and Harmonia into serpents. + Transmigration of the souls of the dead into serpents. Kings claim + kinship with the most powerful animals. + + 228 Apollodorus, iii. 5. 4; Strabo, vii. 7. 8, p. 326; Ovid, _Metam_. + iv. 563-603; Hyginus, _Fabulae_, 6; Nicander, _Theriaca_, 607 _sqq._ + + 229 A. van Gennep, _Tabou et totemisme a Madagascar_ (Paris, 1904), p. + 326. + + 230 Dercylus, quoted by a scholiast on Euripides, _Phoenissae_, 7; + _Fragmenta historicorum Graecorum_, ed. C. Mueller, iv. 387. The + writer rationalises the legend by representing the dragon as a + Theban man of that name whom Cadmus slew. On the theory here + suggested this Euhemeristic version of the story is substantially + right. + + 231 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 268 _sqq._ + + 232 David Leslie, _Among the Zulus and Amatongas_, Second Edition + (Edinburgh, 1875), p. 213. Compare H. Callaway, _The Religious + System of the Amazulu_, Part II., pp. 196, 211. + + 233 See _Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, Second Edition, pp. 73 _sqq._ + + 234 D. Livingstone, _Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa_, + p. 615; Miss A. Werner, _The Natives of British Central Africa_ + (London, 1906), p. 64; L. Decle, _Three Years in Savage Africa_ + (London, 1898), p. 74; J. Roscoe, "The Bahima," _Journal of the + Anthropological Institute_, xxxvii. (1907) pp. 101 sq.; Major J. A. + Meldon, "Notes on the Bahima," _Journal of the African Society_, No. + 22 (January, 1907), pp. 151-153; J. A. Chisholm, "Notes on the + Manners and Customs of the Winamwanga and Wiwa," _Journal of the + African Society_, No. 36 (July, 1910), pp. 374, 375; P. Alois + Hamberger, in _Anthropos_, v. (1910) p. 802. + + 235 W. W. Skeat and C. O. Blagden, _Pagan Races of the Malay Peninsula_ + (London, 1906), ii. 194, 197, 221, 227, 305. + + 236 A. B. Ellis, _The Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast_, pp. 74 + sq. + + 237 This I learned from Professor F. von Luschan in the Anthropological + Museum at Berlin. + + 238 M. Delafosse, in _La Nature_, No. 1086 (March 24th, 1894), pp. + 262-266; J. G. Frazer, "Statues of Three Kings of Dahomey," _Man_, + viii. (1908) pp. 130-132. King Behanzin, surnamed the Shark, is + doubtless the King of Dahomey referred to by Professor von Luschan + (see the preceding note). + + 239 The statue was pointed out to me and explained by Professor F. von + Luschan. + + 240 A. B. Ellis, _The Tshi-speaking Peoples of the Gold Coast_, pp. 205 + _sq._ + + 241 2 Kings xviii. 4. + + 242 W. Robertson Smith, "Animal Worship and Animal Tribes," _Journal of + Philology_, ix. (1880) pp. 99 _sq._ Professor T. K. Cheyne prefers + to suppose that the brazen serpent and the brazen "sea" in the + temple at Jerusalem were borrowed from Babylon and represented the + great dragon, the impersonation of the primaeval watery chaos. See + _Encyclopaedia Biblica_, _s.v._ "Nehushtan," vol. i. coll. 3387. The + two views are perhaps not wholly irreconcilable. See below, pp. 111 + _sq._ + + M65 The serpent the royal animal at Athens and Salamis. + + 243 Herodotus, viii. 41; Plutarch, _Themistocles_, 10; Aristophanes, + _Lysistrata_, 758 _sq._, with the Scholium; Philostratus, + _Imagines_, ii. 17. 6. Some said that there were two serpents + ,Hesychius and Photius, _Lexicon_, _s.v._ {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}. For the + identity of the serpent with Erichthonius, see Pausanias, i. 24. 7; + Hyginus, _Astronomica_, ii. 13; Tertullian, _De spectaculis_, 9; + compare Philostratus, _Vit. Apoll._ vii. 24; and for the identity of + Erichthonius and Erechtheus, see Schol. on Homer, _Iliad_, ii. 547; + _Etymologicum magnum_, p. 371, _s.v._ {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}. According to some, + the upper part of Erichthonius was human and the lower part or only + the feet serpentine. See Hyginus, _Fabulae_, 166; _id._, + _Astronomica_, ii. 13; Schol. on Plato, _Timaeus_, p. 23 D; + _Etymologicum magnum_, _l.c._; Servius on Virgil, _Georg._ iii. 13. + See further my notes on Pausanias i. 18. 2 and i. 26. 5, vol. ii. + pp. 168 _sqq._, 330 _sqq._ + + 244 Apollodorus, iii. 14. i; Aristophanes, _Wasps_, 438. Compare J. + Tzetzes, _Chiliades_, v. 641. + + 245 W. H. Roscher, _Lexikon d. griech. und roem. Mythologie_, ii. 1019. + Compare Euripides, _Ion_, 1163 _sqq._ + + 246 O. Immisch, in W. H. Roscher's _Lexikon d. griech. und roem. + Mythologie_, ii. 1023. + + 247 Apollodorus, iii. 12. 7; Diodorus Siculus, iv. 72; J. Tzetzes, + _Schol. on Lycophron_, 110, 175, 451. + + 248 Pausanias, i. 36. 1. Another version of the story was that Cychreus + bred a snake which ravaged the island and was driven out by + Eurylochus, after which Demeter received the creature at Eleusis as + one of her attendants (Hesiod, quoted by Strabo, ix. 1. 9, p. 393). + + 249 Stephanus Byzantius, _s.v._ {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}; Eustathius, _Commentary + on Dionysius_, 507, in _Geographi Graeci minores_, ed. C. Mueller, + ii. 314. + + 250 Hesychius, _s.v._ {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}; Athenagoras, _Supplicatio pro + Christianis_, 1; [Plutarch], _Vit. X. Orat._ p. 843 B C; _Corpus + inscriptionum Atticarum_, i. No. 387, iii. Nos. 276, 805; compare + Pausanias, i. 26. 5. + + 251 Apollodorus, iii. 14. 1; Herodotus, viii. 55; compare Pausanias, + viii. 10. 4. + + M66 The wedding of Cadmus and Harmonia at Thebes may have been a + dramatic representation of the marriage of the sun and moon at the + end of the eight years' cycle. + + 252 See above, p. 73. + + 253 Apollodorus, iii. 4. 1 _sq._; Pausanias, ix. 12. 1 _sq._; Schol. on + Homer, _Iliad_, ii. 494; Hyginus, _Fabulae_, 178. The mark of the + moon on the cow is mentioned only by Pausanias and Hyginus. + + 254 Apollodorus, iii. 4. 2; Euripides, _Phoenissae_, 822 _sq._; Pindar, + _Pyth._ iii. 155 _sqq._; Diodorus Siculus, v. 49. 1; Pausanias, iii. + 18. 12, ix. 12. 3; Schol. on Homer, _Iliad_, ii. 494. + + M67 This theory confirmed by the astronomical symbols carried by the + Laurel-bearer at the octennial festival of Laurel-bearing. The + Olympic festival seems to have been based on the octennial cycle. + Mythical marriage of the sun and moon at Olympia. + + 255 Proclus, quoted by Photius, _Bibliotheca_, p. 321, ed. Bekker. + + 256 Proclus, _l.c._ + + 257 Pindar, _Pyth._ iii. 155 _sqq._; Diodorus Siculus, v. 49. 1; + Pausanias, ix. 12. 3; Schol. on Homer, _Iliad_, ii. 494. + + 258 Schol. on Euripides, _Phoenissae_, 7 {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH YPOGEGRAMMENI~} + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ZETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} [scil. {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}] {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}. According to the + Samothracian account, Cadmus in seeking Europa came to Samothrace, + and there, having been initiated into the mysteries, married + Harmonia (Diodorus Siculus, v. 48 _sq._). It is probable, though it + cannot be proved, that the legend was acted in the mystic rites. + + 259 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 133. Mr. A. B. + Cook has suggested that the central scene on the eastern frieze of + the Parthenon represents the king and queen of Athens about to take + their places among the enthroned deities. See his article "Zeus, + Jupiter, and the Oak," _Classical Review_, xviii. (1904) p. 371. As + the scenes on the frieze appear to have been copied from the + Panathenaiac festival, it would seem, on Mr. Cook's hypothesis, that + the sacred marriage of the King and Queen was celebrated on that + occasion in presence of actors who played the parts of gods and + goddesses. In this connexion it may not be amiss to remember that in + the eastern gable of the Parthenon the pursuit of the moon by the + sun was mythically represented by the horses of the sun emerging + from the sea on the one side, and the horses of the moon plunging + into it on the other. + + 260 Schol. on Pindar, _Olymp._ iii. 35 (20). + + 261 Compare Aug. Boeckh, on Pindar, _l.c._, _Explicationes_, p. 138; L. + Ideler, _Handbuch der mathematischen und technischen Chronologie_, + i. 366 _sq._; G. F. Unger, "Zeitrechnung der Griechen und Roemer," in + Iwan Mueller's _Handbuch der classischen Altertumswissenschaft_, i. + 605 _sq._ All these writers recognise the octennial cycle at + Olympia. + + 262 K. O. Mueller, _Die Dorier_,2 ii. 483; compare _id._ i. 254 _sq._ + + 263 Pausanias, v. 1. 4. + + 264 Aug. Boeckh, _l.c._; A. Schmidt, _Handbuch der griechischen + Chronologie_ (Jena, 1888), pp. 50 _sqq._; K. O. Mueller, _Die + Dorier_,2 i. 438; W. H. Roscher, _Selene und Verwandtes_, pp. 2 + _sq._, 80 _sq._, 101. + + 265 See Aug. Boeckh and L. Ideler, _ll.cc._ More recent writers would + date it on the second full moon after the summer solstice, hence in + August or the last days of July. See G. F. Unger, _l.c._; E. F. + Bischoff, "De fastis Graecorum antiquioribus," _Leipziger Studien + zur classischen Philologie_, vii. (1884) pp. 347 _sq._; Aug. + Mommsen, _Ueber die Zeit der Olympien_ (Leipsic, 1891); and my note + on Pausanias, v. 9. 3 (vol. iii. pp. 488 _sq._). + + M68 The Olympic victors, male and female, may originally have + represented Zeus and Hera or the Sun and Moon, and have reigned as + divine king and queen for four or eight years. + + 266 A. B. Cook, "The European Sky-God," _Folk-lore_, xv. (1904) pp. + 398-402. + + 267 Rapp, in W. H. Roscher's _Lexikon d. griech. und roem. Mythologie_, + i. 2005 _sqq._ + + 268 Pausanias, v. 15. 3, with my note; Schol. on Pindar, _Olymp._ iii. + 60. + + 269 Pausanias, v. 11. 1. + + 270 Pausanias, v. 16. 2 _sqq._ + + 271 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, vol. ii. p. 143. + + 272 Pausanias, v. 16. 4. + + 273 Many years after the theory in the text was printed (for the present + volume has been long in the press) I accidentally learned that my + friend Mr. F. M. Cornford, Fellow and Lecturer of Trinity College, + Cambridge, had quite independently arrived at a similar conclusion + with regard to the mythical and dramatic parts played by the Olympic + victors, male and female, as representatives of the Sun and Moon, + and I had the pleasure of hearing him expound the theory in a + brilliant lecture delivered before the Classical Society of + Cambridge, 28th February 1911. The coincidence of two independent + enquirers in conclusions, which can hardly be called obvious, seems + to furnish a certain confirmation of their truth. In Mr. Cornford's + case the theory in question forms part of a more elaborate and + comprehensive hypothesis as to the origin of the Olympic games, + concerning which I must for the present suspend my judgment. + + 274 Herodian, v. 6. 3-5. + + M69 Tradition that the great games of Greece originated in funeral + celebrations. + + 275 Clement of Alexandria, _Protrept._ ii. 34, p. 29, ed. Potter. The + following account of funeral games is based on my note on Pausanias + i. 44. 8 (vol. ii. pp. 549 _sq._). Compare W. Ridgeway, _The Origin + of Tragedy_ (Cambridge, 1910), pp. 32 _sqq._ + + 276 Clement of Alexandria, _l.c._ + + 277 Pausanias, v. 13. 1 _sq._ + + 278 Scholiast on Pindar, _Olymp._ i. 146. + + 279 Varro, cited by Servius, on Virgil, _Aen._ iii. 67. + + 280 F. Bonney, "On some Customs of the Aborigines of the River Darling," + _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xiii. (1884) pp. 134 + _sq._; Spencer and Gillen, _Native Tribes of Central Australia_, pp. + 507, 509 _sq._; (Sir) G. Grey, _Journals of Two Expeditions of + Discovery in North-West and Western Australia_ (London, 1841), ii. + 332. + +_ 281 Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres + Straits_, vi. (Cambridge, 1908) pp. 135, 154. + + 282 Hyginus, _Fabulae_, 74; Apollodorus, iii. 6. 4; Schol. on Pindar, + _Pyth._, Introduction; Pausanias, ii. 15. 2 _sq._; Clement of + Alexandria, _Protrept._ ii. 34, p. 29, ed. Potter. + + 283 Scholiast on Pindar, _Isthm._, Introduction, p. 514, ed. Boeckh; + Pausanias, i. 44. 8; Apollodorus, iii. 4. 3; Zenobius, iv. 38; + Clement of Alexandria, _l.c._; J. Tzetzes, _Scholia on Lycophron_, + 107, 229; Scholia on Euripides, _Medea_, 1284; Hyginus, _Fabulae_, + 2. + + 284 Clement of Alexandria, _l.c._; Hyginus, _Fabulae_, 140. + + M70 The tradition is confirmed by Greek practice, for in historical + times games were instituted to do honour to many famous men in + Greece. + + 285 Homer, _Iliad_, xxiii. 255 _sqq._, 629 _sqq._, 651 _sqq._ + + 286 Herodotus, vi. 38. + + 287 Pausanias, iii. 14. 1. + + 288 Plutarch, _De sera numinis vindicta_, 17. + + 289 Thucydides, v. 10 _sq._ + + 290 Plutarch, _Timoleon_, 39. + + 291 Aulus Gellius, x. 18. 5 _sq._ + + 292 Arrian, vii. 14. 10. + + M71 The Greeks also instituted games in honour of large numbers of men + who had perished in battle or a massacre. + + 293 Herodotus, i. 167. + + 294 Plutarch, _Aristides_, 21; Strabo, ix. 2. 31, p. 412; Pausanias, ix. + 2. 5 _sq._ + + 295 Philostratus, _Vit. Sophist._ ii. 30; Heliodorus, _Aethiopica_, i. + 17; compare Aristotle, _Constitution of Athens_, 58. + + M72 Funeral games have been celebrated in honour of the dead by other + peoples both in ancient and modern times. + + 296 Herodotus, v. 8. + + 297 Livy, xxiii. 30. 15. + + 298 Livy, xxxi. 50. 4. + + 299 Livy, xxxix. 46. 2 _sq._ + +_ 300 Census of India, 1901_, vol. iii., _The Andaman and Nicobar + Islands_, by Lieut.-Col. Sir Richard C. Temple (Calcutta, 1903), p. + 209. + + 301 Letter of the missionary Chevron, in _Annales de la Propagation de + la Foi_, xv. (1843) pp. 40 _sq._ + + 302 E. Aymonier, _Voyage dans le Laos_ (Paris, 1895-1897), ii. 325 + _sq._; C. Bock, _Temples and Elephants_ (London, 1884), p. 262. + + 303 A. de Levchine, _Description des hommes et des steppes des + Kirghiz-Kazaks ou Kirghiz-Kaisaks_ (Paris, 1840), pp. 367 _sq._; H. + Vambery, _Das Tuerkenvolk_ (Leipsic, 1885), p. 255; P. von Stenin, + "Die Kirgisen des Kreises Saissanak im Gebiete von Ssemipalatinsk," + _Globus_, lxix. (1906) p. 228. + + 304 T. de Pauly, _Description ethnographique des peuples de la Russie_ + (St. Petersburg, 1862), _Peuples ouralo-altaiques_, p. 29. + + 305 Charlevoix, _Histoire de la Nouvelle France_ (Paris, 1744), vi. 111. + + M73 Funeral games among the Bedouins and among the peoples of the + Caucasus. + + 306 I. Goldziher, _Muhammedanische Studien_ (Halle a. S., 1888-1890), + ii. 328 _sq._ However, Prof. Goldziher believes that the festival is + an ancient heathen one which has been subsequently grafted upon the + tradition of the orthodox prophet Salih. + + 307 J. Potocki, _Voyage dans les steps d'Astrakhan et du Caucase_ + (Paris, 1829), i. 275 _sq._; Edmund Spencer, _Travels in Circassia, + Krim Tartary_, etc. (London, 1836) ii. 399. + + 308 G. Radde, _Die Chews'uren und ihr Land_ (Cassel, 1878), pp. 95 + _sq._; Prince Eristow, "Die Pschawen und Chewsurier im Kaukasus," + _Zeitschrift fuer allgemeine Erdkunde_, Neue Folge, ii. (1857) p. 77. + + 309 C. v. Hahn, "Religioese Anschauungen und Totengedaechtnisfeier der + Chewsuren," _Globus_, lxxvi. (1899) pp. 211 _sq._ + + 310 N. v. Seidlitz, "Die Abchasen," _Globus_, lxvi. (1894) pp. 42 _sq._ + + M74 Games periodically held in honour of some famous man might in time + assume the character of a great fair. The great Irish fairs of + Tailltin and Carman, in which horse-races played a prominent part, + are said to have been instituted in honour of the dead. + + 311 (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Heathendom_ (London, 1888), pp. 409 _sq._; + H. d'Arbois de Jubainville, _Cours de litterature celtique_, vii. + (Paris, 1895) pp. 309 _sqq._; P. W. Joyce, _Social History of + Ancient Ireland_ (London, 1903), ii. 438 _sqq._ "The _aenach_ or + fair was an assembly of the people of every grade without + distinction; it was the most common kind of large public meeting, + and its main object was the celebration of games, athletic + exercises, sports, and pastimes of all kinds" (P. W. Joyce, _op. + cit._ ii. 438). The Irish name is _Tailltiu_, genitive _Taillten_, + accusative and dative _Tailltin_ (Sir J. Rhys, _op. cit._ p. 409 + note 1). + + 312 (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Heathendom_, p. 411; H. d'Arbois de + Jubainville, _Cours de litterature celtique_, vii. 313 _sqq._; P. W. + Joyce, _Social History of Ancient Ireland_, ii. 434 _sq._, 441 + _sqq._ + + M75 Indeed most of the great Irish fairs are said to have originated in + funeral games. + + 313 P. W. Joyce, _op. cit._ ii. 435. + + 314 P. W. Joyce, _op. cit._ ii. 434. Compare (Sir) J. Rhys, _Celtic + Heathendom_, p. 411. + + 315 H. d'Arbois de Jubainville, _Cours de litterature celtique_, vii. + 313. + + 316 H. d'Arbois de Jubainville, _op. cit._ vii. 310. + + M76 The great Irish fairs were held on the first of August (Lammas), + which seems to have been an old harvest festival of first-fruits. + + 317 P. W. Joyce, _op. cit._ ii. 389, 439. + + 318 (Sir) J. Rhys, _Celtic Heathendom_, p. 410. + + 319 (Sir) J. Rhys, _Celtic Heathendom_, pp. 411 _sq._, quoting the + substance of a note by Thos. Hearne, in his edition of _Robert of + Gloucester's Chronicles_ (Oxford, 1724), p. 679. As to the + derivation of the word see _New English Dictionary_ (Oxford, 1888- ) + and W. W. Skeat, _Etymological Dictionary of the English Language_ + (Oxford, 1910), _s.v._ "Lammas." + + 320 See above, p. 100. + + 321 See _The Golden Bough_, Second Edition, ii. 459 _sqq._ + + 322 See _The Golden Bough_, Second Edition, ii. 460, 463, 464 _sq._ + + M77 If the great Irish fairs were instituted in honour of the dead, we + can understand why their observance was supposed to ensure plenty of + corn, fruit, milk, and fish. + + 323 See above, pp. 14 _sqq._, 21, 27, 33, 36 _sq._ + + 324 See above, p. 98. + + 325 See above, p. 93. + + M78 But the theory of the funeral origin of the Olympic games does not + explain all the legends connected with them. Suggested theory of the + origin of the Olympic games. + + 326 Pausanias, v. 1. 4, v. 8. 1. + + 327 Apollodorus, _Bibliotheca_, pp. 183-185 ed. R. Wagner (_Epitoma_, + ii. 3-9); Diodorus Siculus, iv. 73; Hyginus, _Fabulae_, 84; Schol. + on Pindar, _Olymp._ i. 114; Servius on Virgil, _Georg._ iii. 7. See + _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 299 _sq._ + + 328 Strabo, vi. 3. 9, p. 284; K. O. Mueller, _Aeschylos Eumeniden_ + (Goettingen, 1833), p. 144. + + 329 Pausanias, vi. 21. 9-11. + + M79 The Olympic games not a harvest festival, but based on astronomical + considerations. + M80 Widespread myth of the slaughter of a great dragon. The Babylonian + story of the slaying of Tiamat by Marduk is a myth of the creation + of cosmos out of chaos. + + 330 P. Jensen, _Die Kosmologie der Babylonier_ (Strasburg, 1890), pp. + 263 _sqq._; _id._, _Assyrisch-babylonische Mythen und Epen_ (Berlin, + 1900), pp. 3 _sqq._; M. Jastrow, _The Religion of Babylonia and + Assyria_, pp. 407 _sqq._; L. W. King, _Babylonian Religion and + Mythology_, pp. 53 _sqq._; H. Zimmern, in E. Schrader's _Die + Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament_ (Berlin, 1902), pp. 488 + _sqq._; M. J. Lagrange, _Etudes sur les religions semitiques_2 + (Paris, 1905); pp. 366 _sqq._ + + 331 P. Jensen, _Die Kosmologie der Babylonier_, pp. 304-306; H. Gunkel, + _Schoepfung und Chaos in Urzeit und Endzeit_ (Goettingen, 1895), pp. + 114 _sqq._; _id._, _Genesis uebersetzt und erklaert_ (Goettingen, + 1901), pp. 107 _sqq._; _Encyclopaedia Biblica_, _s.v._ "Creation," + i. coll. 938 _sqq._; S. R. Driver, _The Book of Genesis_4 (London, + 1905), pp. 27 _sqq._ The myth is clearly alluded to in several + passages of Scripture, where the dragon of the sea is spoken of as + Rahab or Leviathan. See Isaiah li. 9, "Art thou not it that cut + Rahab in pieces, that pierced the dragon?": _id._ xxvii. 1, "In that + day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish + leviathan the swift serpent, and leviathan the crooked serpent; and + he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea": Job xxvi. 12, "He + stirreth up the sea with his power, and by his understanding he + smiteth through Rahab": Psalm lxxxix. 10, "Thou hast broken Rahab in + pieces as one that is slain": Psalm lxxiv. 13 _sq._, "Thou didst + divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the + dragons in the waters. Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in + pieces." See further H. Gunkel, _Schoepfung und Chaos_, pp. 29 _sqq._ + + M81 Indian story of the slaying of Vrtra by Indra. The story may be a + myth descriptive of the beginning of the rainy season in India. + + 332 A. A. Macdonell, _Vedic Mythology_, pp. 58-60, 158 _sq._ Compare H. + Oldenberg, _Die Religion des Veda_, pp. 134 _sqq._ + + 333 See M. Winternitz, "Der Sarpabali, ein altindischer Schlangencult," + _Mittheilungen der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien_, xviii. + (1888) pp. 44 _sq._ + + M82 Similarly the other tales of the slaughter of the dragon may be + mythical descriptions of the changes of the seasons. + + 334 A. Kuhn, "Wodan," _Zeitschrift fuer deutsches Alterthum_, v. (1845) + pp. 484-488. + + 335 P. Jensen, _Die Kosmologie der Babylonier_, pp. 315 _sq._; H. + Gunkel, _Schoepfung und Chaos_, p. 25; _id._, _Genesis uebersetzt und + erklaert_, pp. 115 _sq._; M. Jastrow, _The Religion of Babylonia and + Assyria_, pp. 411 _sq._, 429 _sq._, 432 _sq._; H. Zimmern, in + _Encyclopaedia Biblica_, _s.v._ "Creation," i. coll. 940 _sq._; + _id._, in E. Schrader's _Die Keilinschriften und das Alte + Testament_,3 pp. 370 _sq._, 500 _sq._; S. R. Driver, _The Book of + Genesis_4 (London, 1905), p. 28. + + M83 The cosmogonical significance of the Babylonian myth may have been + an after-thought, the early philosophers picturing the creation of + the world on the analogy of the change from winter to summer. + + 336 Virgil, _Georgics_, ii. 336-342. + + M84 Thus ceremonies intended to hasten the departure of winter are in a + sense attempts to repeat the creation of the world. + M85 In Babylon and India the myth of the slaughter of the dragon may + have been acted as a magical ceremony to hasten the advent of summer + or of the rainy season. New-year festival of Zagmuk at Babylon. + + 337 P. Jensen, _Die Kosmologie der Babylonier_, pp. 84 _sqq._; M. + Jastrow, _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, pp. 677 _sqq._; H. + Zimmern, in E. Schrader's _Die Keilinschriften und das Alte + Testament_,3 pp. 371, 384 note 4, 402, 427, 515 _sqq._; R. F. + Harper, _Babylonian and Assyrian Literature_ (New York, 1901), pp. + 136, _sq._, 137, 140, 149; M. J. Lagrange, _Etudes sur les religions + semitiques_2 (Paris, 1905), pp. 285 _sqq._ + + 338 L. W. King, _Babylonian Religion and Mythology_, pp. 88 _sqq._ + + 339 See C. P. Tiele, _Geschiedenis van den Godsdienst in de Oudheid_, i. + (Amsterdam, 1903) pp. 159 _sq._; L. W. King, _op. cit._ p. 21; H. + Zimmern. in E. Schrader's _Die Keilinschriften und das Alte + Testament_,3 p. 399; M. Jastrow, _Die Religion Babyloniens und + Assyriens_, i (Giessen, 1905) pp. 117 _sqq._ + + 340 P. Jensen, _op. cit._ pp. 85 _sqq._; M. Jastrow, _The Religion of + Babylonia and Assyria_, p. 679; H. Zimmern, _op. cit._ p. 515; M. J. + Lagrange, _op. cit._ p. 286. + + 341 P. Jensen, _op. cit._ p. 87; M. Jastrow, _The Religion of Babylonia + and Assyria_, p. 681; H. Zimmern, _op. cit._ pp. 402, 415; R. F. + Harper, _op. cit._ p. 136. + + 342 P. Jensen, _Assyrisch-babylonische Mythen und Epen_, p. 29; L. W. + King, _Babylonian Religion and Mythology_, p. 74. + + 343 This appears to be substantially the view of H. Zimmern (_op. cit._ + p. 501) and of Karppe (referred to in _Encyclopaedia Biblica_, + _s.v._ "Creation," i. coll. 941 note 1). + + M86 Part played by the king in the drama of the Slaughter of the Dragon. + M87 Suggested reconciliation of the totemic with the cosmological + interpretation of the Slaughter of the Dragon. + + 344 A. Moret, _Du caractere religieux de la royaute Pharaonique_ (Paris, + 1902), pp. 18 _sqq._, 33 _sqq._ + + 345 Clement of Alexandria. _Strom._ v. 7. p. 671, ed. Potter. + + 346 A. Erman, _Die aegyptische Religion_ (Berlin, 1905), pp. 10, 25. + + 347 John Parkinson (late Principal of the Mineral Survey of Southern + Nigeria), "Southern Nigeria, the Lagos Province," _The Empire + Review_, vol. xv. May 1908, pp. 290 _sq._ The account in the text of + the mystery surrounding the Awujale is taken from A. B. Ellis, _The + Yoruba-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa_ (London, + 1894), p. 170. + + M88 Evidence of an annual tenure of the kingship at Babylon. Further, it + would seem that in very early times the kings of Babylon were put to + death at the end of a year's reign. The mock king put to death at + the festival of the Sacaea was probably a substitute for the real + king. + + 348 M. Jastrow, _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, p. 680; H. + Zimmern, in E. Schrader's _Die Keilinschriften und das Alte + Testament_,3 pp. 374, 515; C. Brockelmann, "Wesen und Ursprung des + Eponymats in Assyrien," _Zeitschrift fuer Assyriologie_, xvi. (1902) + pp. 391 _sq._, 396 _sq._ + + 349 Athenaeus, xiv. 44, p. 639 C; Dio Chrysostom, _Or._ iv. pp. 69 _sq._ + (vol. i. p. 76, ed. L. Dindorf). Dio Chrysostom does not mention his + authority, but it was probably either Berosus or Ctesias. The + execution of the mock king is not noticed in the passage of Berosus + cited by Athenaeus, probably because the mention of it was not + germane to Athenaeus's purpose, which was simply to give a list of + festivals at which masters waited on their servants. A passage of + Macrobius (_Saturn._ iii. 7. 6) which has sometimes been interpreted + as referring to this Babylonian custom (F. Liebrecht, in + _Philologus_, xxii. 710; J. J. Bachofen, _Die Sage von Tanaquil_, p. + 52, note 16) has in fact nothing to do with it. See A. B. Cook, in + _Classical Review_, xvii. (1903) p. 412; _id._ in _Folk-lore_, xv. + (1904) pp. 304, 384. In the passage of Dio Chrysostom {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} + should strictly mean "hanged," but the verb was applied by the + Greeks to the Roman punishment of crucifixion (Plutarch, _Caesar_, + 2). It may have been extended to include impalement, which was often + inflicted by the Assyrians, as we may see by the representations of + it on the Assyrian monuments in the British Museum. See also R. F. + Harper, _Assyrian and Babylonian Literature_, p. 41, with the plate + facing p. 54. The proper word for impalement in Greek is + {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ZETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} (Herodotus, iv. 202). Hanging was also an Oriental as + well as Roman mode of punishment. The Hebrew word for it ({~HEBREW LETTER HET~}{~HEBREW LETTER LAMED~}{~HEBREW LETTER HE~}) seems + unambiguous. See Esther, v. 14, vii. 9 _sq._; Deuteronomy, xxi. 22 + _sq._; Joshua, viii. 29, x. 26; Livy, i. 26. 6. + + 350 See above, pp. 21, 26 _sqq._ + + M89 The festival of the Sacaea was perhaps identical with Zagmuk. + Festival of Zagmuk in Assyria. Trace of an annual tenure of the + kingship in Assyria. + + 351 Bruno Meissner, "Zur Entstehungsgeschichte des Purimfestes," + _Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenlaendischen Gesellschaft_, I. (1896) + pp. 296-301; H. Winckler, _Altorientalische Forschungen_, Zweite + Reihe, Bd. ii. p. 345; C. Brockelmann, "Wesen und Ursprung des + Eponymats in Assyrien," _Zeitschrift fuer Assyriologie_, xvi. (1902) + pp. 391 _sq._ + + 352 Meantime I may refer the reader to _The Golden Bough_, Second + Edition, ii. 254, iii. 151 _sqq._ As I have there pointed out (iii. + 152 _sq._) the identification of the months of the Syro-Macedonian + calendar (that is, the ascertainment of their astronomical dates in + the solar year) is a matter of some uncertainty, the dates appearing + to have varied considerably in different places. The month Lous in + particular is variously said to have corresponded in different + places to July, August, September, and October. Until we have + ascertained beyond the reach of doubt when Lous fell at Babylon in + the time of Berosus, it would be premature to allow much weight to + the seeming discrepancy in the dates of Zagmuk and the Sacaea. On + the whole difficult question of the identification or dating of the + months of the Syro-Macedonian calendar see L. Ideler, _Handbuch der + mathematischen und technischen Chronologie_, i. 393 _sqq._; K. F. + Hermann, "Ueber griechische Monatskunde," _Abhandlungen der + histor.-philolog. Classe d. koen. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu + Goettingen_, ii. (1843-44) pp. 68 _sqq._, 95, 109, 111 _sqq._; H. F. + Clinton, _Fasti Hellenici_, iii.2 351 _sqq._; article "Calendarium," + in W. Smith's _Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities_,3 i. 339. + The distinction between the dates of the Syro-Macedonian months, + which differed in different places, and their order, which was the + same in all places (Dius, Apellaeus, etc.), appears to have been + overlooked by some of my former readers. + + 353 P. Jensen, _Die Kosmologie der Babylonier_, p. 84; C. Brockelmann, + "Wesen und Ursprung des Eponymats in Assyrien," _Zeitschrift fuer + Assyriologie_, xvi. (1902) p. 392. However, there is no mention of + Zagmuk in Prof. R. F. Harper's translation of the inscription + (_Assyrian and Babylonian Literature_, p. 87). + + 354 C. Brockelmann, _op. cit._ pp. 389-401. + + 355 H. Winckler, _Geschichte Babyloniens und Assyriens_ (Leipsic, 1902), + p. 212; R. F. Harper, _Assyrian and Babylonian Literature_, pp. + xxxviii. _sq._, 206-216; E. Meyer, _Geschichte des Altertums_2, i. 2 + (Stuttgart and Berlin, 1909), pp. 331 _sq._ It was the second, not + the first, year of a king's reign which in later times at all events + was named after him. For the explanation see C. Brockelmann, _op. + cit._ pp. 397 _sq._ + + 356 The eponymate in Assyria and elsewhere may have been the subject of + superstitions which we do not yet understand. Perhaps the eponymous + magistrate may have been deemed in a sense responsible for + everything that happened in the year. Thus we are told that "in + Manipur they have a noteworthy system of keeping count of the years. + Each year is named after some man, who--for a + consideration--undertakes to bear the fortune, good or bad, of the + year. If the year be good, if there be no pestilence and a good + harvest, he gets presents from all sorts of people, and I remember + hearing that in 1898, when the cholera was at its worst, a + deputation came to the Political Agent and asked him to punish the + name-giver, as it was obvious that he was responsible for the + epidemic. In former times he would have got into trouble" (T. C. + Hodson, "The Native Tribes of Manipur," _Journal of the + Anthropological Institute_, xxxi. 1901, p. 302). + + 357 C. Brockelmann, "Das Neujahrsfest der Jezidis," _Zeitschrift der + deutschen morgenlaendischen Gesellschaft_, lv. (1901) pp. 388-390. + + M90 Slaves sacrificed instead of their masters in West Africa. + + 358 Letter of the missionary N. Baudin, dated 16th April 1875, in + _Missions Catholiques_, vii. (1875) pp. 614-616, 627 _sq._; _Annales + de la Propagation de la Foi_, xlviii. (1876) pp. 66-76. + + M91 Trace of custom of killing the kings of Hawaii at the end of a + year's reign. + + 359 U. Lisiansky, _A Voyage Round the World in the Years 1803, 4, 5, and + 6_ (London, 1814), pp. 118 _sq._ The same ceremony seems to be more + briefly described by the French voyager Freycinet, who says that + after the principal idol had been carried in procession about the + island for twenty-three days it was brought back to the temple, and + that thereupon the king was not allowed to enter the precinct until + he had parried a spear thrown at him by two men. See L. de + Freycinet, _Voyage autour du monde_, vol. ii. Premiere Partie + (Paris, 1829), pp. 596 _sq._ + + M92 The reign and life of the king limited to a single day in Ngoio, a + province of Congo. + + 360 R. E. Dennett, _Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort_, with an + introduction by Mary H. Kingsley (London, 1898), p. xxxii; _id._, + _At the Back of the Black Man's Mind_ (London, 1906), p. 120. Miss + Kingsley in conversation called my attention to this particular + custom, and informed me that she was personally acquainted with the + chief, who possesses but declines to exercise the right of + succession. + + M93 Reminiscences of a custom of regicide in popular tales. Story how + Lancelot came to a city where the king had to perish in the fire on + New Year's Day. + +_ 361 The High History of the Holy Graal_, translated from the French by + Sebastian Evans (London, 1898), i. 200-203. I have to thank the + translator, Mr. Sebastian Evans, for his kindness in indicating this + passage to me. + + M94 Story of King Vikramditya of Ujjain in India. Kings of Ujjain + devoured by a demon after a reign of a single day. + + 362 For a discussion of the legends which gather round Vikramaditya see + Captain Wilford, "Vicramaditya and Salivahana," _Asiatic + Researches_, ix. (London, 1809) pp. 117 _sqq._; Chr. Lassen, + _Indische Alterthumskunde_, ii.2 752 _sqq._, 794 _sqq._; E. T. + Atkinson, _The Himalayan Districts of the North-Western Provinces of + India_, ii. (Allahabad, 1884), pp. 410. _sqq._ Vikramaditya is + commonly supposed to have lived in the first century B.C. and to + have founded the _Samvat_ era, which began with 57 B.C., and is now + in use all over India. But according to Professor H. Oldenberg it is + now certain that this Vikramaditya was a purely legendary personage + (H. Oldenberg, _Die Literatur des alten Indien_, Stuttgart and + Berlin, 1903, pp. 215 _sq._). + + M95 Vikramaditya puts an end to the custom by vanquishing the demon, + after which he reigns as king of Ujjain. + + 363 "Histoire des rois de l'Hindoustan apres les Pandaras, traduite du + texte hindoustani de Mir Cher-i Ali Afsos, par M. l'abbe Bertrand," + _Journal Asiatique_, IVeme Serie, iii. (Paris, 1844) pp. 248-257. + The story is told more briefly by Mrs. Postans, _Cutch_ (London, + 1839), pp. 21 _sq._ Compare Chr. Lassen, _Indische Alterthumskunde_, + ii.2 798. + + M96 Yearly human sacrifices formerly offered at Ujjain. + + 364 A. V. Williams Jackson, "Notes from India, Second Series," _Journal + of the American Oriental Society_, xxiii. (1902) pp. 308, 316 _sq._ + I have to thank my friend the Rev. Professor J. H. Moulton for + referring me to Prof. Williams Jackson's paper. + + M97 Story of the birth of Vikramaditya. His father Gandharva-Sena was an + ass by day and a man by night, until his ass's skin was burnt, when + he left his wife for ever. + + 365 "Histoire des rois de l'Hindoustan," _Journal Asiatique_, IVeme + Serie, iii. (1844) pp. 239-243. The legend is told with + modifications by Captain Wilford ("Vicramaditya and Salivahana," + _Asiatic Researches_, ix. London, 1809, pp. 148 _sq._), Mrs. Postans + (_Cutch_, London, 1839, pp. 18-20), and Prof. Williams Jackson (_op. + cit._ pp. 314 _sq._). + + M98 Stories of the type of Beauty and the Beast, which tell how human + beings are married to beasts or to animals which temporarily assume + human form. + M99 Stories of this kind are told by savages to explain why they abstain + from eating certain animals. Dyak stories of this type. + + 366 The Bishop of Labuan, "Wild Tribes of Borneo," _Transactions of the + Ethnological Society of London_, New Series, ii. (1863) pp. 26 _sq._ + + 367 Ch. Hose and W. McDougall, "The Relations between Men and Animals in + Sarawak," _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxi. (1901) + pp. 197 _sq._ + + 368 Ch. Hose and W. McDougall, _op. cit._ p. 193. + + M100 Story told by the Sea Dyaks to explain how they came to plant rice + and to revere the omen-birds. It describes how the young chief Siu + married a woman of the bird-family, and promised her never to hurt + or even touch a bird. + M101 But one day he broke his word, and his bird-wife left him and + returned to the bird-people. + + 369 Rev. E. H. Gomes, "Two Sea Dyak Legends," _Journal of the Straits + Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society_, No. 41 (January 1904, + Singapore), pp. 12-28; _id._, _Seventeen Years among the Sea Dyaks + of Borneo_ (London, 1911), pp. 278 _sqq._ + + M102 Stories of the same sort are told by the Tshi-speaking negroes of + the Gold Coast to explain why they do not eat their totemic animals. + + 370 A. B. Ellis, _The Tshi-speaking Peoples of the Gold Coast_ (London, + 1887), pp. 204-212. + + M103 Stories of this sort were probably at first always told to explain + the totemic belief in the kinship of certain families with certain + species of animals. When husband and wife had different totems, a + violation of the totemic taboos by husband or wife might lead to the + separation of the spouses. This would explain the separation of + husband and wife in the type of tale here discussed. + + 371 The type of story in question has been discussed by Mr. Andrew Lang + in a well-known essay "Cupid, Psyche, and the Sun-Frog," _Custom and + Myth_ (London, 1884), pp. 64-86. He rightly explains all such tales + as based on savage taboos, but so far as I know he does not + definitely connect them with totemism. For other examples of these + tales told by savages see W. Lederbogen, "Duala Maerchen," + _Mittheilungen des Seminars fuer Orientalische Sprachen zu Berlin_, + v. (1902) Dritte Abtheilung, pp. 139-145 (the Duala tribe of + Cameroons; in one tale the wife is a palm-rat, in the other a + _mpondo_, a hard brown fruit as large as a coconut); R. H. Nassau, + _Fetichism in West Africa_ (London, 1904), pp. 351-358 (West Africa; + wife a forest-rat); G. H. Smith, "Some Betsimisaraka Superstitions," + _The Antananarivo Annual and Madagascar Magazine_, No. 10 + (Christmas, 1886), pp. 241 _sq._; R. H. Codrington, _The + Melanesians_, pp. 172, 397 _sq._ (Melanesia; wife a bird, husband an + owl); A. F. van Spreeuwenberg, "Een blik op Minahassa," _Tijdschrift + voor Neerland's Indie_, 1846, Erste deel, pp. 25-28 (the Bantiks of + Celebes; wife a white dove); J. H. F. Kohlbrugge, "Die Tenggeresen, + ein alter Javanischer Volksstaam," _Bijdragen tot de Taal- Land- en + Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indie_, iiii. (1901) pp. 97-99 (the + Tenggeres of Java; wife a bird); J. Fanggidaej, "Rottineesche + Verhalen," _Bijdragen tot de Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde van + Nederlandsch-Indie_, lviii. (1905), pp. 430-436 (island of Rotti; + husband a crocodile); J. Kubary, "Die Religion der Pelauer," in A. + Bastian's _Allerlei aus Volkes- und Menschenkunde_ (Berlin, 1888), + i. 60 _sq._ (Pelew Islands; wife a fish); A. R. McMahon, _The Karens + of the Golden Chersonese_, pp. 248-250 (Karens of Burma; husband a + tree-lizard); Landes, "Contes Tjames," _Cochinchine francaise, + excursions et reconnaissances_, No. 29 (Saigon, 1887), pp. 53 _sqq._ + (Chams of Cochin-China; husband a coco-nut); A. Certeux and E. H. + Carnoy, _L'Algerie traditionnelle_ (Paris and Algiers, 1884), pp. + 87-89 (Arabs of Algeria; wife a dove); J. G. Kohl, _Kitschi-Gami_ + (Bremen, 1858), i. 140-145 (Ojebway Indians; wife a beaver); Franz + Boas and George Hunt, _Kwakiutl Texts_, ii. 322-330 (_The Jesup + North Pacific Expedition, Memoir of the American Museum of Natural + History_) (Kwakiutl Indians; wife a salmon); J. R. Swanton, _Haida + Texts and Myths_ (_Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin_, No. 29, + Washington, 1905), pp. 286 _sq._ (Haida Indians; wife a + killer-whale); H. Rink, _Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo_, pp. + 146 _sq._ (Esquimaux; wife a sea-fowl). The Bantik story is told to + explain the origin of the people; the Tenggeres story is told to + explain why it is forbidden to lift the lid of a basket in which + rice is being boiled. The other stories referred to in this note are + apparently told as fairy tales only, but we may conjecture that they + too were related originally to explain a supposed relationship of + human beings to animals or plants. I have already illustrated and + explained this type of story in _Totemism and Exogamy_, vol. ii. pp. + 55, 206, 308, 565-571, 589, iii. 60-64, 337 _sq._ + + 372 The fable of Cupid and Psyche is only preserved in the Latin of + Apuleius (_Metamorph._ iv. 28-vi. 24), but we cannot doubt that the + original was Greek. For the story of Pururavas and Urvasi, see _The + Rigveda_, x. 95 (_Hymns of the Rigveda_, translated by R. T. H. + Griffith, vol. iv. Benares, 1892, pp. 304 _sqq._); _Satapatha + Brahmana_, translated by J. Eggeling, part v. pp. 68-74 (_Sacred + Books of the East_, vol. xliv.); and the references in _The Magic + Art and the Evolution of Kings_, vol. ii. p. 250, note 4. A clear + trace of the bird-nature of Urvasi occurs in the _Satapatha + Brahmana_ (Part v. p. 70 of J. Eggeling's translation), where the + sorrowing husband finds his lost wife among nymphs who are swimming + about in the shape of swans or ducks on a lotus-covered lake. This + has been already pointed out by Th. Benfey (_Pantschatantra_, i. + 264). In English the type of tale is known as "Beauty and the + Beast," which ought to include the cases in which the wife, as well + as those in which the husband, appears as an animal. On stories of + this sort, especially in the folklore of civilised peoples, see Th. + Benfey, _Pantschatantra_, i. 254 _sqq._; W. R. S. Ralston, + Introduction to F. A. von Schiefner's _Tibetan Tales_, pp. + xxxvii.-xxxix.; A. Lang, _Custom and Myth_ (London, 1884), pp. 64 + _sqq._; S. Baring-Gould, _Curious Myths of the Middle Ages_, pp. + 561-578; E. Cosquin, _Contes populaires de Lorraine_, ii. 215-230; + W. A. Clouston, _Popular Tales and Fictions_, i. 182-191; Miss M. + Roalfe Cox, _Introduction to Folklore_ (London, 1895) pp. 120-123. + + M104 The story of the parentage of Vikramaditya may point to a line of + kings who had the ass for their crest or totem. Similarly the + Maharajahs of Nagpur have the cobra for their crest and the origin + of the crest is explained by a story of the type of Beauty and the + Beast. + + 373 In the ruins of Raipoor, supposed to be the ancient Mandavie, coins + are found bearing the image of an ass; and the legend of the + transformation of Gandharva-Sena into an ass is told to explain + their occurrence. The coins are called Gandharva pice. See Mrs. + Postans, _Cutch_ (London, 1839), pp. 17 _sq._, 22. + + 374 E. T. Dalton, _Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal_, pp. 165 _sq._ + + 375 T. C. Hodson, "The Native Tribes of Manipur," _Journal of the + Anthropological Institute_, xxxi. (1901) pp. 302, 304. + + M105 Stories of the type of Beauty and the Beast are not mere fictions, + but rest on a real basis of belief and custom. Similarly the legend + of kings who were sacrificed after a reign of a single day has its + analogy in actual custom. Such stories indicate that the supply of + kings may have been maintained by compelling men to accept the fatal + sovereignty. + + 376 See above, pp. 118 _sq._ + + M106 Our conceptions of the primitive kingship are apt to be coloured and + falsified by ideas borrowed from the very different monarchies of + modern Europe. + + 377 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, vol. ii. p. 4; + _Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, pp. 17 _sqq._ + + M107 In other races and other ages many men may have been willing to + accept a kingdom on condition of being killed at the end of a short + reign. Various causes have contributed to intensify the fear of + death in modern Europe. + + 378 See Dr. Joseph Bautz, _Die Hoelle, im Anschluss an die Scholastik + dargestellt_2 (Mainz, 1905). Dr. Bautz holds that the damned burn in + eternal darkness and eternal fire somewhere in the bowels of the + earth. He is, let us hope in more senses than one, an extraordinary + professor of theology at the University of Muenster, and his book is + published with the approbation of the Catholic Church. + + M108 Evidence of the comparative indifference to death displayed by other + races. Absence of the fear of death in India and Annam. + + 379 R. H. Elliot, _Experiences of a Planter in the Jungles of Mysore_ + (London, 1871), i. 95. + + 380 Mrs. Postans, _Cutch_ (London, 1839), p. 168. + + 381 Mgr. Masson, in _Annales de la Propagation de la Foi_, xxiv. (1852) + pp. 324 _sq._ + + M109 Absence of the fear of death among the American Indians. + + 382 H. R. Schoolcraft, _Indian Tribes of the United States_, ii. + (Philadelphia, 1853), p. 68. + + 383 F. de Azara, _Voyages dans l'Amerique Meridionale_, ii. 181. + + M110 Apathy of savages under sentence of death. + + 384 A. B. Ellis, _The Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast_, p. 127. + The testimony of a soldier on such a point is peculiarly valuable. + + 385 A. Thevet, _Les Singularitez de la France Antarctique_ (Antwerp, + 1558), pp. 74 _sq._; _id._, _Cosmographie universelle_ (Paris, + 1575), p. 945 [979]. + + 386 My informant was the late Captain W. C. Robinson, formerly of the + 2nd Bombay Europeans (Company's Service), afterwards resident at 15 + Chesterton Hall Crescent, Cambridge. He learned the facts in the + year 1853 from his friend Captain Gore, of the 29th Madras Native + Infantry, who rescued some of the victims. + + 387 Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_ (London, 1911), p. 338. + + M111 Further, men of other races often sacrifice their lives voluntarily + for reasons which seem to us wholly inadequate. Thus people have + freely allowed themselves to be killed in order to accompany their + dead ruler to the other world. + + 388 See above, pp. 42 _sqq._, 54 _sqq._ + + 389 O. Dapper, _Description de l'Afrique_ (Amsterdam, 1686), p. 312; H. + Ling Roth, _Great Benin_, p. 43. + + 390 R. Southey, _History of Brazil_, iii. 391 _sq._ + + 391 Tacitus, _Histor._ ii. 49; Plutarch, _Otho_, 17. + + M112 In the East, persons sometimes commit suicide in order to avenge + themselves on their enemies. Law of retaliation in a robber caste of + southern India. + + 392 R. Lasch, "Rache als Selbstmordmotiv," _Globus_, lxxiv. (1898) pp. + 37-39. + + 393 Father Martin, Jesuit missionary, in _Lettres edifiantes et + curieuses_, Nouvelle Edition, xi. (Paris, 1781), pp. 246-248. The + letter was written at Marava, in the mission of Madura, 8th November + 1709. No doubt the English Government has long since done its best + to suppress these practices. + + M113 Contempt of death exhibited in antiquity by the Thracians and the + Gauls. + + 394 Seleucus, quoted by Athenaeus, iv. 42, p. 155 D E. + + 395 Posidonius, quoted by Athenaeus, iv. 40, p. 154 B C. + + M114 In ancient Rome there were men willing to be beheaded for a sum of + five _minae_. + + 396 Euphorion of Chalcis, quoted by Athenaeus, iv. 40, p. 154 C; + Eustathius on Homer, _Odyssey_, xviii. 46, p. 1837. + + 397 Athenaeus, iv. 39, p. 153 E F, quoting Nicolaus Damascenus. + + 398 Tertullian, _De spectaculis_, 12. The custom of sacrificing human + beings in honour of the dead, which has been practised by many + savage and barbarous peoples, was in later times so far mitigated at + Rome that the destined victims were allowed to fight each other, + which gave some of them a chance of surviving. This mitigation of + human sacrifice is said to have been introduced by D. Junius Brutus + in the third century B.C. (Livy, _Epit._ xvi.). It resembles the + change which I suppose to have taken place at Nemi and other places, + where, if I am right, kings were at first put to death inexorably at + the end of a fixed period, but were afterwards permitted to defend + themselves in single combat. + + 399 Livy, ii. 5. 8, xxvi. 13. 15, xxviii. 29. 11; Polybius, i. 7. 12, + xi. 30. 2; Th. Mommsen, _Roemisches Strafrecht_ (Leipsic, 1899), pp. + 916 _sqq._ + + 400 Hiera Sykaminos (_Maharraka_), the furthest point of the Roman + dominion in southern Egypt, lies within the tropics. The empire did + not reach this its extreme limit till after the age of Augustus. See + Th. Mommsen, _Roemische Geschichte_, v. 594 _sq._ Strabo speaks + (xvii. 1. 48, p. 817) as if Syene, which was held by a Roman + garrison of three cohorts, were within the tropics; but that is a + mistake. + + M115 Chinese indifference to death. + + 401 For some evidence see J. H. Gray, _China_, i. 329 _sqq._; H. Norman, + _The Peoples and Politics of the Far East_ (London, 1905), pp. 277 + _sq._ On this subject the Rev. Dr. W. T. A. Barber, Headmaster of + the Leys School, Cambridge, formerly a missionary in China, writes + to me as follows (3rd February 1902):--"Undoubtedly the Eastern, + through his belief in Fate, has comparatively little fear of death. + I have sometimes seen the Chinese in great fear; but, on the other + hand, I have saved at least a hundred lives of people who had + swallowed opium out of spite against some one else, the idea being, + first, the trouble given by minions of the law to the survivor; + second, that the dead would gain a vantage ground by becoming a + ghost, and thus able to plague his enemy in the flesh. Probably + blind anger has more to do with it than either of these causes. But + the particular mode would not ordinarily occur to a Western. I am + bound to say that in many cases the patient was ready enough to take + my medicines, but mostly it was the friends who were most eager, and + exceedingly rarely did I receive thanks from the rescued." + + 402 J. H. Gray (Archdeacon of Hong-kong), _China_ (London, 1878), ii. + 306. + + 403 The particulars in the text are taken, with Lord Avebury's kind + permission, from a letter addressed to him by Mr. M. W. Lampson of + the Foreign Office. See Note A at the end of the volume. Speaking of + capital punishment in China, Professor E. H. Parker says: "It is + popularly stated that substitutes can be bought for Taels 50, and + most certainly this statement is more than true, so far as the price + of human life is concerned; but it is quite another question whether + the gaolers and judges can always be bribed" (E. H. Parker, + Professor of Chinese at the Owens College, Manchester, _China Past + and Present_, London, 1903, pp. 378 _sq._). However, from his + personal enquiries Professor Parker is convinced that in such + matters the local mandarin can do what he pleases, provided that he + observes the form of law and gives no offence to his superiors. + + M116 We must not judge of all men's love of life by our own. + + 404 My friend, the late Sir Francis Galton, mentioned in conversation a + phrase which described the fear of death as "the Western (or + European) malady," but he did not remember where he had met with it. + He wrote to me (18th October 1902) that "our fear of death is + presumably much greater than that of the barbarians who were our + far-back ancestors." + + M117 Hence it is probable that in some races and at some periods of + history it would be easy to find men willing to accept a kingdom on + condition of being killed at the end of a short reign. + + 405 See above, pp. 23, 49 _sqq._, 52 _sq._ + + M118 Annual abdication of kings and their places temporarily taken by + nominal sovereigns. Temporary kings in Cambodia. + + 406 See above, pp. 113 _sqq._ + + 407 E. Aymonier, _Notice sur le Cambodge_ (Paris, 1875), p. 61; J. + Moura, _Le Royaume du Cambodge_ (Paris, 1883), i. 327 _sq._ For the + connexion of the temporary king's family with the royal house, see + E. Aymonier, _op. cit._ pp. 36 _sq._ + + M119 Temporary kings in Siam in former days. + + 408 De la Loubere, _Du royaume de Siam_ (Amsterdam, 1691), i. 56 _sq._; + Turpin, "History of Siam," in Pinkerton's _Voyages and Travels_, ix. + 581 _sq._; Mgr. Brugiere, in _Annales de l'Association de la + Propagation de la Foi_, v. (1831) pp. 188 _sq._; Pallegoix, + _Description du royaume Thai ou Siam_ (Paris, 1854), i. 250; A. + Bastian, _Die Voelker des oestlichen Asien_, iii. 305-309, 526-528. + Bowring (_Siam_, i. 158 _sq._) copies, as usual, from Pallegoix. For + a description of the ceremony as observed at the present day, see E. + Young, _The Kingdom of the Yellow Robe_ (Westminster, 1898), pp. 210 + _sq._ The representative of the king no longer enjoys his old + privilege of seizing any goods that are exposed for sale along the + line of the procession. According to Mr. Young, the ceremony is + generally held about the middle of May, and no one is supposed to + plough or sow till it is over. According to Loubere the title of the + temporary king was _Oc-ya Kaou_, or Lord of the Rice, and the office + was regarded as fatal, or at least calamitous "_funeste_") to him. + + 409 Lieut.-Col. James Low, "On the Laws of Muung Thai or Siam," _Journal + of the Indian Archipelago_, i. (Singapore, 1847) p. 339; A. Bastian, + _Die Voelker des oestlichen Asien_, iii. 98, 314, 526 _sq._ + + M120 Modern custom of temporary kings in Siam. + + 410 E. Young, _The Kingdom of the Yellow Robe_, pp. 212-217. The writer + tells us that though the Minister for Agriculture still officiates + at the Ploughing Festival, he no longer presides at the Swinging + Festival; a different nobleman is chosen every year to superintend + the latter. + + M121 Temporary kings in Samaracand and Upper Egypt. + + 411 Ed. Chavannes, _Documents sur les Tou-Kiue (Turcs) Occidentaux_ (St. + Petersburg, 1903), p. 133, note. The documents collected in this + volume are translated from the Chinese. + + 412 C. B. Klunzinger, _Bilder aus Oberaegypten der Wueste und dem Rothen + Meere_ (Stuttgart, 1877), pp. 180 _sq._ + +_ 413 Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, p. 243. For evidence of a + practice of burning divine personages, see _Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, + Second Edition, pp. 84 _sqq._, 91 _sqq._, 139 _sqq._ + + M122 Temporary kings in Morocco. + + 414 Budgett Meakin, _The Moors_ (London, 1902), pp. 312 sq.; E. Aubin, + _Le Maroc d'aujourd'hui_ (Paris, 1904), pp. 283-287. According to + the latter of these writers the flight of the mock sultan takes + place the day after his meeting with the real sultan. The account in + the text embodies some notes which were kindly furnished me by Dr. + E. Westermarck. + + M123 Temporary king in Cornwall. + + 415 R. Carew, _Survey of Cornwall_ (London, 1811), p. 322. I do not know + what the writer means by "little Easter Sunday." The ceremony has + often been described by subsequent writers, but they seem all to + copy, directly or indirectly, from Carew, who says that the custom + had been yearly observed in past times and was only of late days + discontinued. His _Survey of Cornwall_ was first printed in 1602. I + have to thank Mr. G. M. Trevelyan, formerly Fellow of Trinity + College, Cambridge, for directing my attention to this interesting + survival of what was doubtless a very ancient custom. + + M124 Temporary kings at the beginning of a reign. + + 416 J. W. Boers, "Oud volksgebruik in het Rijk van Jambi," _Tijdschrift + voor Neerlands Indie_, 1840, dl. i. pp. 372 _sqq._ + +_ 417 Panjab Notes and Queries_, i. p. 86, § 674 (May 1884). + + 418 Aeneas Sylvius, _Opera_ (Bale, 1571), pp. 409 _sq._; J. Boemus, + _Mores, leges, et ritus omnium gentium_ (Lyons, 1541), pp. 241 + _sq._; J. Grimm, _Deutsche Rechtsalterthuemer_, p. 253. According to + Grimm, the cow and mare stood beside the prince, not the peasant. + The Carinthian ceremony is the subject of an elaborate German + dissertation by Dr. Emil Goldmann (_Die Einfuehrung der deutschen + Herzogsgeschlechter Kaerntens in den Slovenischen Stammesverband, ein + Beitrag zur Rechts- und Kulturgeschichte_, Breslau, 1903). + + M125 The temporary kings discharge divine or magical functions. + + 419 E. Young, _The Kingdom of the Yellow Robe_, p. 211. + + 420 Lasicius, "De diis Samagitarum caeterorumque Sarmatarum," in + _Respublica sive status regni Poloniae, Lituaniae, Prussiae, + Livoniae_, etc. (Elzevir, 1627), pp. 306 _sq._; _id._, edited by W. + Mannhardt in _Magazin herausgegeben von der Lettisch-Literarischen + Gesellschaft_, xiv. 91 _sq._; J. G. Kohl, _Die deutsch-russischen + Ostseeprovinzen_ (Dresden and Leipsic, 1841), ii. 27. There, are, + however, other occasions when superstition requires a person to + stand on one foot. At Toku-toku, in Fiji, the grave-digger who turns + the first sod has to stand on one leg, leaning on his digging-stick + (Rev. Lorimer Fison, in a letter to the author, dated August 26, + 1898). Among the Angoni of British Central Africa, when the corpse + of a chief is being burned, his heir stands beside the blazing pyre + on one leg with his shield in his hand; and three days later he + again stands on one leg before the assembled people when they + proclaim him chief. See R. Sutherland Rattray, _Some Folk-lore + Stories and Songs in Chinyanja_ (London, 1907), pp. 100, 101. + + 421 E. Young, _The Kingdom of the Yellow Robe_, p. 212. + + 422 J. G. Kohl, _Die deutsch-russischen Ostseeprovinzen_, ii. 25. With + regard to swinging as a magical or religious rite, see Note B at the + end of the volume. For other charms to make the crops grow tall by + leaping, letting the hair hang loose, and so forth, see _The Magic + Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 135 _sqq._ + + 423 Macrobius, _Saturn._ v. 19. 13. + + 424 See _Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, pp. 225 _sqq._ + + M126 Temporary kings substituted in certain emergencies for Shahs of + Persia. + + 425 Sir John Malcolm, _History of Persia_ (London, 1815), i. 527 _sq._ I + am indebted to my friend Mr. W. Crooke for calling my attention to + this passage. + + 426 Captain John Stevens, _The History of Persia_ (London, 1715), pp. + 356 _sq._ I have to thank Mr. W. Crooke for his kindness in copying + out this passage and sending it to me. I have not seen the original. + An Irish legend relates how the abbot Eimine Ban and forty-nine of + his monks sacrificed themselves by a voluntary death to save Bran ua + Faelain, King of Leinster, and forty-nine Leinster chiefs, from a + pestilence which was then desolating Leinster. They were sacrificed + in batches of seven a day for a week, the abbot himself perishing + after the last batch on the last day of the week. But it is not said + that the abbot enjoyed regal dignity during the seven days. See C. + Plummer, "Cain Eimine Bain," _Eriu, the Journal of the School of + Irish Learning, Dublin_. vol. iv. part i. (1908) pp. 39-46. The + legend was pointed out to me by Professor Kuno Meyer. + + M127 The temporary kings are sometimes related by blood to the real + kings. + M128 Tradition of On, King of Sweden, and the sacrifice of his nine sons. + + 427 "Ynglinga Saga," 29, in _The Heimskringla or Chronicle of the Kings + of Norway, translated from the Icelandic of Snorro_ _Sturleson_, by + S. Laing (London, 1844), i. 239 _sq._; H. M. Chadwick, _The Cult of + Othin_ (London, 1899), pp. 4, 27. I have already cited the tradition + as evidence of a nine years' tenure of the kingship in Sweden. See + above, p. 57, with note 2. + + M129 Tradition of King Athamas and his children. Male descendants of King + Athamas liable to be sacrificed. + + 428 Herodotus, vii. 197; Apollodorus, i. 9. 1 _sq._; Schol. on + Aristophanes, _Clouds_, 257; J. Tzetzes, _Schol. on Lycophron_, 21, + 229; Schol. on Apollonius Rhodius, _Argonautica_, ii. 653; + Eustathius, on Homer, _Iliad_, vii. 86, p. 667; _id._, on _Odyssey_, + v. 339, p. 1543; Pausanias, i. 44. 7, ix. 34. 7; Zenobius, iv. 38; + Plutarch, _De superstitione_, 5; Hyginus, _Fab._ 1-5; _id._, + _Astronomica_, ii. 20; Servius, on Virgil, _Aen._ v. 241. The story + is told or alluded to by these writers with some variations of + detail. In piecing their accounts together I have chosen the + features which seemed to be the most archaic. According to + Pherecydes, one of the oldest writers on Greek legendary history, + Phrixus offered himself as a voluntary victim when the crops were + perishing (Schol. on Pindar, _Pyth._ iv. 288). On the whole subject + see K. O. Mueller, _Orchomenus und die Minyer_,2 pp. 156, 171. + + 429 Plato, _Minos_, p. 315 C. + + M130 Family of royal descent liable to be sacrificed at Orchomenus. + + 430 Plutarch, _Quaest. Graec._ 38; Antoninus Liberalis, _Transform._ 10; + Ovid, _Metam._ iv. 1 _sqq._ + + M131 Thessalian and Boeotian kings seem to have sacrificed their sons to + Laphystian Zeus instead of themselves. + + 431 Pausanias, ix. 34. 5 _sqq._; Apollonius Rhodius, _Argonautica_, iii. + 265 _sq._; Hellanicus, cited by the Scholiast on Apollonius, _l.c._ + Apollodorus speaks of Athamas as reigning over Boeotia + (_Bibliotheca_, i. 9. 1); Tzetzes calls him king of Thebes (_Schol. + on Lycophron_, 21). + + 432 The old Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius (_Argon._ ii. 653) tells us + that down to his time it was customary for one of the descendants of + Athamas to enter the town-hall and sacrifice to Laphystian Zeus. K. + O. Mueller sees in this custom a mitigation of the ancient + rule--instead of being themselves sacrificed, the scions of royalty + were now permitted to offer sacrifice (_Orchomenus und die Minyer_,2 + p. 158). But this need not have been so. The obligation to serve as + victims in certain circumstances lay only on the eldest male of each + generation in the direct line; the sacrificers may have been younger + brothers or more remote relations of the destined victims. It may be + observed that in a dynasty of which the eldest males were regularly + sacrificed, the kings, if they were not themselves the victims, must + always have been younger sons. + + 433 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, vol. i. p. 310. + + 434 I have followed K. O. Mueller (_Orchomenus und die Minyer_,2 pp. 160, + 166 _sq._) in regarding the ram which saved Phrixus as a mythical + expression for the substitution of a ram for a human victim. He + points out that a ram was the proper victim to sacrifice to + Trophonius (Pausanias, ix. 39. 6), whose very ancient worship was + practised at Lebadea not far from Orchomenus. The principle of + vicarious sacrifices was familiar enough to the Greeks, as K. O. + Mueller does not fail to indicate. At Potniae, near Thebes, goats + were substituted as victims instead of boys in the sacrifices + offered to Dionysus (Pausanias, ix. 8. 2). Once when an oracle + commanded that a girl should be sacrificed to Munychian Artemis in + order to stay a plague or famine, a goat dressed up as a girl was + sacrificed instead (Eustathius on Homer, _Iliad_, ii. 732, p. 331; + Apostolius, vii. 10; _Paroemiogr. Graeci_, ed. Leutsch et + Schneidewin, ii. 402; Suidas, _s.v._ {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}). At Salamis in Cyprus + a man was annually sacrificed to Aphrodite and afterwards to + Diomede, but in later times an ox was substituted (Porphyry, _De + abstinentia_, ii. 54). At Laodicea in Syria a deer took the place of + a maiden as the victim yearly offered to Athena (Porphyry, _op. + cit._ ii. 56). Since human sacrifices have been forbidden by the + Dutch Government in Borneo, the Barito and other Dyak tribes of that + island have kept cattle for the sole purpose of sacrificing them + instead of human beings at the close of mourning and at other + religious ceremonies. See A. W. Nieuwenhuis, _Quer durch Borneo_, + ii. (Leyden, 1907), p. 127. + + M132 Sacrifice of kings' sons among the Semites. Sacrifice of children to + Baal among the Semites. + + 435 Philo of Byblus, quoted by Eusebius, _Praeparatio Evangelii_, i. 10. + 29 _sq._ + + 436 2 Kings iii. 27. + + 437 On this subject see Dr. G. F. Moore, _s.v._ "Molech, Moloch," + _Encyclopaedia Biblica_, iii. 3183 _sqq._; C. P. Tiele, _Geschichte + der Religion im Altertum_, i. (Gotha, 1896) pp. 240-244. + + 438 Porphyry, _De abstinentia_, ii. 56. + + 439 Plato, _Minos_, p. 315 C. + + 440 Plutarch, _Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata, Gelon I._ + + 441 Diodorus Siculus, xx. 14. Compare Clitarchus, cited by Suidas, + _s.v._ {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, and by the Scholiast on Plato, _Republic_, + p. 337 A; J. Selden, _De dis Syris_ (Leipsic, 1668), pp. 169 _sq._ + + 442 Plutarch, _De superstitione_, 13. Egyptian mothers were glad and + proud when their children were devoured by the holy crocodiles. See + Aelian, _De natura animalium_, x. 21; Maximus Tyrius, _Dissert._ + viii. 5; Josephus, _Contra Apion._ ii. 7. + + 443 Tertullian, _Apologeticus_, 6. Compare Justin, xviii. 6. 12; Ennius, + cited by Festus, _s.v._ "Puelli," pp. 248, 249, ed. C. O. Mueller; + Augustine, _De civitate Dei_, vii. 19 and 26. + + M133 Canaanite and Hebrew custom of burning children in honour of Baal or + Moloch. Sacrifices of children in Tophet. + + 444 "Every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto + their gods; for even their sons and their daughters do they burn in + the fire to their gods," Deuteronomy xii. 31. Here and in what + follows I quote the Revised English Version. + + 445 Deuteronomy xviii. 9-12. + + 446 Leviticus xviii. 21. + + 447 Psalms cvi. 35-38. + + 448 2 Kings xvii. 16, 17. + + 449 "And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the + valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters + in the fire," Jeremiah vii. 31; "And have built the high places of + Baal, to burn their sons in the fire for burnt offerings unto Baal," + _id._ xix. 5; "And they built the high places of Baal, which are in + the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their + daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech," _id._ xxxii. 35; + "Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast + borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be + devoured. Were thy whoredoms a small matter, that thou hast slain my + children, and delivered them up, in causing them to pass through the + fire unto them?" Ezekiel xvi. 20 _sq._; compare xx. 26, 31. A + comparison of these passages shews that the expression "to cause to + pass through the fire," so often employed in this connexion in + Scripture, meant to burn the children in the fire. Some have + attempted to interpret the words in a milder sense. See J. Spencer, + _De legibus Hebraeorum_ (The Hague, 1686), i. 288 _sqq._ + + 450 2 Chronicles xxviii. 3. In the corresponding passage of 2 Kings + (xvi. 3) it is said that Ahaz "made his son to pass through the + fire." + + 451 2 Chronicles xxxiii. 6; compare 2 Kings xxi. 6. + + 452 2 Kings xxiii. 10. + + 453 Jerome on Jeremiah vii. 31, quoted in Winer's _Biblisches + Realworterbuch_,2 _s.v._ "Thopeth." + + M134 Did the Hebrews borrow the custom from the Canaanites? Custom of the + Sepharvites. + + 454 The Tel El-Amarna tablets prove that "the prae-Israelitish + inhabitants of Canaan were closely akin to the Hebrews, and that + they spoke substantially the same language" (S. R. Driver, in + _Authority and Archaeology, Sacred and Profane_, edited by D. G. + Hogarth (London, 1899), p. 76). + + 455 2 Kings xvii. 31. The identification of Sepharvaim is uncertain. See + _Encyclopaedia Biblica_, iv. 4371 _sq._ + + M135 Only the firstborn children were burned. + + 456 Micah vi. 6-8. + + 457 Ezekiel xx. 25, 26, 31. + + 458 Exodus xiii. 1 _sq._ + + 459 Exodus xiii. 12. + + 460 Exodus xxxiv. 19. In the Authorised Version the passage runs thus: + "All that openeth the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy + cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male." + + 461 Exodus xxii. 29 _sq._ The Authorised Version has "the first of thy + ripe fruits" instead of "the abundance of thy fruits." + + M136 Hebrew sacrifice of firstlings: redemption of the firstlings of men + and asses. + + 462 Numbers xviii. 17 _sq._ Elsewhere, however, we read: "All the + firstling males that are born of thy herd and of thy flock thou + shalt sanctify unto the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work with the + firstling of thine ox, nor shear the firstling of thy flock. Thou + shalt eat it before the Lord thy God year by year in the place which + the Lord shall choose, thou and thy household," Deuteronomy xv. 19 + _sq._ Compare Deuteronomy xii. 6 _sq._, 17 _sq._ To reconcile this + ordinance with the other we must suppose that the flesh was divided + between the Levite and the owner of the animal. But perhaps the rule + in Deuteronomy may represent the old custom which obtained before + the rise of the priestly caste. Prof. S. R. Driver inclines to the + latter view (_Commentary on Deuteronomy_, p. 187). + + 463 Exodus xiii. 13, xxxiv. 20. + + 464 Numbers xviii. 15 _sq._ Compare Numbers iii. 46-51; Exodus xiii. 13, + xxxiv. 20. + + M137 Sacrifice of firstborn children perhaps regarded as an act of heroic + virtue. + M138 Tradition of the origin of the Passover. + + 465 Exodus xi.-xiii. 16; Numbers iii. 13, viii. 17. While many points in + this strange story remain obscure, the reason which moved the + Israelites of old to splash the blood of lambs on the doorposts of + their houses at the Passover may perhaps have been not very + different from that which induces the Sea Dyaks of Borneo to do much + the same thing at the present day. "When there is any great epidemic + in the country--when cholera or smallpox is killing its hundreds on + all sides--one often notices little offerings of food hung on the + walls and from the ceiling, animals killed in sacrifice, and blood + splashed on the posts of the houses. When one asks why all this is + done, they say they do it in the hope that when the evil spirit, who + is thirsting for human lives, comes along and sees the offerings + they have made and the animals killed in sacrifice, he will be + satisfied with these things, and not take the lives of any of the + people living in the Dyak village house" (E. H. Gomes, _Seventeen + Years among the Sea Dyaks of Borneo_, London, 1911, p. 201). + Similarly in Western Africa, when a pestilence or an attack of + enemies is expected, it is customary to sacrifice sheep and goats + and smear their blood on the gateways of the village (Miss Mary H. + Kingsley, _Travels in West Africa_, p. 454, compare p. 45). In Peru, + when an Indian hut is cleansed and whitewashed, the blood of a llama + is always sprinkled on the doorway and internal walls in order to + keep out the evil spirit (Col. Church, cited by E. J. Payne, + _History of the New World called America_, i. 394, note 2). For more + evidence of the custom of pouring or smearing blood on the + threshold, lintel, and side-posts of doors, see Ph. Paulitschke, + _Ethnographie Nordost-Afrikas, die geistige Cultur der Danakil, + Galla und Somal_ (Berlin, 1896), pp. 38, 48; J. Goldziher, + _Muhamedanische Studien_, ii. 329; S. J. Curtiss, _Primitive Semitic + Religion To-day_, pp. 181-193, 227 _sq._; H. C. Trumbull, _The + Threshold Covenant_ (New York, 1896), pp. 4 _sq._, 8 _sq._, 26-28, + 66-68. Perhaps the original intention of the custom was to avert + evil influence, especially evil spirits, from the door. + + M139 Originally the firstborn children seem to have been regularly + sacrificed: their redemption was a later mitigation of the rule. + + 466 Genesis xxii. 1-13. + + 467 See for example Father Baudin, in _Missions Catholiques_, xvi. + (1894) p. 333; A. B. Ellis, _The Yoruba-speaking Peoples of the + Slave Coast_, pp. 105 _sq._ + + M140 Attempts to outwit a malignant spirit. + + 468 W. E. Maxwell, "The Folklore of the Malays," _Journal of the Straits + Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society_, No. 7 (June 1881), p. 14; W. + W. Skeat, _Malay Magic_, p. 112. The bird in question is thought to + be the goat-sucker or night-jar. + + M141 The custom of sacrificing all the firstborn, whether of animals or + men, was probably a very ancient Semitic institution. + + 469 2 Kings iii. 27. + + 470 See above, pp. 166, 167. + + 471 As to the redemption of the firstborn among modern Jews, see L. Loew, + _Die Lebensalter in der juedischen Literatur_ (Szegedin, 1875), pp. + 110-118; Budgett Meakin, _The Moors_ (London, 1902), pp. 440 _sq._ + + M142 Sacrifice of firstborn children among various races. + + 472 J. Wellhausen, _Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels_,3 p. 90; W. + Robertson Smith, _Religion of the Semites_,2 p. 464. On the other + hand, when I published the foregoing discussion in the second + edition of my book, I was not aware that the conclusion reached in + it had been anticipated by Prof. Th. Noeldeke, who has drawn the same + inference from the same evidence. See _Zeitschrift der Deutschen + Morgenlaendischen Gesellschaft_, xlii. (1888) p. 483. I am happy to + find myself in agreement with so eminent an authority on Semitic + antiquity. + + 473 R. Brough Smyth, _Aborigines of Victoria_, ii. 311. In the Luritcha + tribe of central Australia "young children are sometimes killed and + eaten, and it is not an infrequent custom, when a child is in weak + health, to kill a younger and healthy one and then to feed the + weakling on its flesh, the idea being that this will give the weak + child the strength of the stronger one" (Spencer and Gillen, _Native + Tribes of Central Australia_, p. 475). The practice seems to have + been common among the Australian aborigines. See W. E. Stanbridge, + quoted by R. Brough Smyth, _op. cit._ i. 52; A. W. Howitt, _Native + Tribes of South-East Australia_, pp. 749, 750. + + 474 G. Scriviner, in E. Curr's _The Australian Race_, ii. 182. + + 475 A. W. Howitt, _Native Tribes of South-East Australia_, p. 750. + + 476 S. Gason, in E. Curr's _The Australian Race_, ii. 119. + + 477 Father Mazzuconi, in _Annales de la Propagation de la Foi_, xxvii. + (1855) pp. 368 _sq._ + + 478 J. J. M. de Groot, _Religious System of China_, ii. 679, iv. 364. + + 479 J. J. M. de Groot, _op. cit._ iv. 365. On these Chinese reports + Prof. de Groot remarks (_op. cit._ iv. 366): "Quite at a loss, + however, we are to explain that eating of firstborn sons by their + own nearest kinsfolk, absolutely inconsistent as it is with a + primary law of tribal life in general, which imperiously demands + that the tribe should make itself strong in male cognates, but not + indulge in self-destruction by killing its natural defenders. We + feel, therefore, strongly inclined to believe the statement + fabulous." Such scepticism implies an opinion of the good sense and + foresight of savages which is far from being justified by the facts. + Many savage tribes have "indulged in self-destruction" by killing a + large proportion of their children, both male and female. See below, + pp. 196 _sq._ + + 480 W. Crooke, _Popular Religion and Folklore of Northern India_, ii. + 169. + + 481 H. A. Rose, "Unlucky Children," _Folklore_, xiii. (1902) p. 63; + _id._, in _Indian Antiquary_, xxxi. (1902) pp. 162 _sq._ Mr. Rose is + Superintendent of Ethnography in the Punjaub. The authorities cited + by him are Moore's _Hindu Infanticide_, pp. 198 _sq._, and + Sherring's _Hindu Tribes and Castes_, iii. p. 66. + + M143 Sacrifice of firstborn children among the Borans and other tribes to + the south of Abyssinia. Firstborn male children put to death in + Uganda. + + 482 Captain Philip Maud, "Exploration in the Southern Borderland of + Abyssinia," _The Geographical Journal_, xxiii. (1904) pp. 567 _sq._ + + 483 Exodus iv. 24-26. + + 484 Captain C. H. Stigand, _To Abyssinia through an Unknown Land_ + (London, 1910), pp. 234 _sq._ + + 485 J. Roscoe, "Further Notes on the Manners and Customs of the + Baganda," _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. (1902) + p. 30. Mr. Roscoe informs me that a similar custom prevails also in + Koki and Bunyoro. + + 486 J. L. Krapf, _Travels, Researches, and Missionary Labours during an + Eighteen Years' Residence in Eastern Africa_ (London, 1860), pp. 69 + _sq._ Dr. Krapf, who reports the custom at second hand, thinks that + the existence of the pillar may be doubted, but that the rest of the + story harmonises well enough with African superstition. + + 487 J. Macdonald, _Light in Africa_2 (London, 1890), p. 156. In the text + I have embodied some fuller explanations and particulars which my + friend the Rev. Mr. Macdonald was good enough to send me in a letter + dated September 16th, 1899. Among the tribes with which Mr. + Macdonald is best acquainted the custom is obsolete and lives only + in tradition; formerly it was universally practised. + + M144 Sacrifice of firstborn children in Europe and America. Sacrifice of + firstborn children to the sun. Sacrifice of children in Peru. + + 488 F. J. Mone, _Geschichte des Heidenthums im noerdlichen Europa_ + (Leipsic and Darmstadt, 1822-1823), i. 119. + + 489 Vallancey, _Collectanea de rebus Hibernicis_, vol. iii. (Dublin, + 1786) p. 457; D. Nutt, _The Voyage of Bran_, ii. 149-151, 304 _sq._; + P. W. Joyce, _Social History of Ancient Ireland_, i. 275 _sq._, + 281-284. The authority for the tradition is the _Dinnschenchas_ or + _Dinnsenchus_, a document compiled in the eleventh and twelfth + centuries out of older materials. Mr. Joyce discredits the tradition + of human sacrifice. + + 490 Fr. Boas, in "Fourth Annual Report on the North-Western Tribes of + Canada," _Report of the British Association for 1888_, p. 242; + _id._, in _Fifth Report on the North-Western Tribes of Canada_, p. + 52 (separate reprint from the _Report of the British Association for + 1889_). + + 491 Fr. Boas, in _Fifth Report on the North-Western Tribes of Canada_, + p. 46 (separate reprint from the _Report of the British Association + for 1889_). + + 492 W. Strachey, _Historie of travaile into Virginia Britannia_ (Hakluyt + Society, London, 1849), p. 84. + + 493 J. Bricknell, _The Natural History of North Carolina_ (Dublin, + 1737), pp. 342 _sq._ I have taken the liberty of altering slightly + the writer's somewhat eccentric punctuation. + + 494 See above, p. 162. + + 495 A. de Herrera, _The General History of the Vast Continent and + Islands of America_, translated by Capt. John Stevens (London, + 1725-6), iv. 347 _sq._ Compare J. de Acosta, _Natural and Moral + History of the Indies_ (Hakluyt Society, London, 1880), ii. 344. + + 496 Fr. Xeres, _Relation veridique de la conquete du Perou et de la + Province de Cuzco nommee Nouvelle-Castille_ (in H. Ternaux-Compans's + _Voyages, relations et memoires_, etc., Paris, 1837), p. 53. + + 497 Juan de Velasco, _Histoire du royaume de Quito_, i. (Paris, 1840) p. + 106 (forming vol. xviii. of H. Ternaux-Compans's _Voyages, relations + et memoires_, etc.). + + 498 A. R. Wallace, _Narrative of Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro_ + (London, 1889), p. 355. + + 499 W. Barbrooke Grubb, _An Unknown People in an Unknown Land_ (London, + 1911), p. 233. + + M145 The "sacred spring" in ancient Italy. + + 500 Festus, _De verborum significatione_, _s.vv._ "Mamertini," + "Sacrani," and "Ver sacrum," pp. 158, 370, 371, 379, ed. C. O. + Mueller; Servius on Virgil, _Aen._ vii. 796; Nonius Marcellus, _s.v._ + "ver sacrum," p. 522 (p. 610, ed. Quicherat); Varro, _Rerum + rusticarum_, iii. 16. 29; Dionysius Halicarnasensis, _Antiquit. + Rom._ i. 16 and 23 _sq._, ii. 1. 2. + + 501 Strabo, v. 4. 2 and 12; Pliny, _Nat. hist._ iii. 110; Festus, _De + verborum significatione_, _s.v._ "Irpini," ed. C. O. Mueller, p. 106. + It is worthy of note that the three swarms which afterwards + developed into the Piceni, the Samnites, and the Hirpini were said + to have been guided by a woodpecker, a bull, and a wolf + respectively, of which the woodpecker (_picus_) and the wolf + (_hirpus_) gave their names to the Piceni and the Hirpini. The + tradition may perhaps preserve a trace of totemism, but in the + absence of clearer evidence it would be rash to assume that it does + so. The woodpecker was sacred among the Latins, and a woodpecker as + well as a wolf is said to have fed the twins Romulus and Remus + (Plutarch, _Quaest. Rom._ 21; Ovid, _Fasti_, iii. 37 _sq._). Does + this legend point to the existence of a wolf-clan and a + woodpecker-clan at Rome? There was perhaps a similar conjunction of + wolf and woodpecker at Soracte, for the woodpecker is spoken of as + the bird of Feronia ("_picus Feronius_," Festus, _s.v._ "Oscines," + p. 197, ed. C. O. Mueller), a goddess in whose sanctuary at Soracte + certain men went by the name of Soranian Wolves (Servius, on Virgil, + _Aen._ xi. 785; Pliny, _Nat. hist._ vii. 19; Strabo, v. 2. 9). These + "Soranian Wolves" will meet us again later on. + + 502 Livy, xxii. 9 _sq._; Plutarch, _Fabius Maximus_, 4. + + 503 Livy, xxxiv. 44. + + 504 Dionysius Halicarnasensis, _Antiquit. Rom._ i. 24. + + 505 Schwegler thought it hardly open to question that the "sacred + spring" was a substitute for an original custom of human sacrifice + (_Roemische Geschichte_, i. 240 _sq._). The inference is denied on + insufficient grounds by R. von Ihering (_Vorgeschichte der + Indoeuropaeer_, pp. 309 _sqq._). + + 506 Dionysius Halicarnasensis, _Antiquit. Rom._ i. 16. 1. Rhegium in + Italy was founded by Chalcidian colonists, who in obedience to the + Delphic Oracle had been dedicated as a tithe-offering to Apollo on + account of a dearth (Strabo, vi. 1. 6, p. 257). Justin speaks of the + Gauls sending out three hundred thousand men, "as it were a sacred + spring," to seek a new home (Justin, xxiv. 4. 1). + + M146 Different motives may have led to the practice of killing the + firstborn. A belief in the rebirth of souls may in some cases have + operated to produce infanticide, especially of the firstborn. The + Hindoos believe that a man is reborn in his son, while at the same + time he dies in his own person. + + 507 The Australian aborigines resort to infanticide to keep down the + number of a family. But "the number is kept down, not with any idea + at all of regulating the food supply, so far as the adults are + concerned, but simply from the point of view that, if the mother is + suckling one child, she cannot properly provide food for another, + quite apart from the question of the trouble of carrying two + children about. An Australian native never looks far enough ahead to + consider what will be the effect on the food supply in future years + if he allows a particular child to live; what affects him is simply + the question of how it will interfere with the work of his wife so + far as their own camp is concerned" (Spencer and Gillen, _Native + Tribes of Central Australia_, p. 264). + + 508 See above, pp. 57, 160 _sq._ + + 509 Above, p. 185. + + 510 Father Baudin, "Le Fetichisme," _Missions Catholiques_, xvi. (1884) + p. 259. + +_ 511 The Laws of Manu_, ix. 8, p. 329, G. Buehler's translation (_Sacred + Books of the East_, vol. xxv.). On this Hindoo doctrine of + reincarnation, its logical consequences and its analogies in other + parts of the world, see J. von Negelein, "Eine Quelle der indischen + Seelenwanderungvorstellung," _Archiv fuer Religionswissenschaft_, vi. + (1903) pp. 320-333. Compare E. S. Hartland, _The Legend of Perseus_, + i. 218 _sq._; _id._, _Primitive Paternity_ (London, 1909-1910), ii. + 196 _sqq._ + + 512 H. A. [J. A.] Rose, "Unlucky and Lucky Children, and some Birth + Superstitions," _Indian Antiquary_, xxxi. (1902) p. 516; _id._, in + _Folklore_, xiii. (1902) pp. 278 _sq._ As to the Khatris, see D. C. + J. Ibbetson, _Outlines of Panjab Ethnography_, pp. 295 _sq._; H. H. + Risley, _The Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, i. 478 _sqq._; W. Crooke, + _The Tribes and Castes of the North-western Provinces and Oudh_, + iii. 264 _sqq._ + + M147 Painful dilemma of a father. + + 513 The same suggestion has been made by Dr. E. Westermarck (_The Origin + and Development of the Moral Ideas_, i. (London, 1906) pp. 460 + _sq._). Some years ago, before the publication of his book and while + the present volume was still in proof, Dr. Westermarck and I in + conversation discovered that we had independently arrived at the + same conjectural explanation of the custom of killing the firstborn. + + M148 The same notion of the rebirth of the father in the son would + explain why in Polynesia infants succeeded to the chieftainship as + soon as they were born, their fathers abdicating in their favour. + + 514 Capt. J. Cook, _Voyages_ (London, 1809), i. 225 _sq._; Capt. J. + Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific Ocean_ (London, + 1799), pp. 327, 330, 333; W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_,2 iii. + 99-101; J. A. Mourenhout, _Voyages aux iles du Grand Ocean_, ii. 13 + _sq._; Mathias G. ----, _Lettres sur les Iles Marquises_ (Paris, + 1843), pp. 103 _sq._; H. Hale, _United States Exploring Expedition, + Ethnography and Philology_ (Philadelphia, 1846), p. 34. + + M149 Such a rule of succession might easily lead to a practice of + infanticide. Prevalence of infanticide in Polynesia. + + 515 W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_,2 i. 251-253. + + M150 In some places the father either abdicates when his son attains to + manhood or is forcibly deposed by him. + + 516 J. E. Erskine, _Journal of a Cruise among the Islands of the Western + Pacific_ (London, 1853), p. 233. + + 517 J. Williams, _Narrative of Missionary Enterprises in the South Sea + Islands_ (London, 1836), pp. 117 _sq._ + + 518 J. Campbell, _Travels in South Africa, Second Journey_ (London, + 1822), ii. 276. + + M151 The custom of the deposition of the father by his son may perhaps be + traced in Greek myth and legend. Cronus and his children. + + 519 Hesiod, _Theogony_, 137 _sqq._, 453 _sqq._, 886 _sqq._; Apollodorus, + _Bibliotheca_, i. 1-3. + + 520 Above, pp. 179 _sq._ Traces of a custom of sacrificing the children + instead of the father may perhaps be found in the legends that + Menoeceus, son of Creon, died to save Thebes, and that one or more + of the daughters of Erechtheus perished to save Athens. See + Euripides, _Phoenissae_, 889 _sqq._; Apollodorus, iii. 6. 7, iii. + 15. 4; Schol. on Aristides, _Panathen._ p. 113, ed. Dindorf; Cicero, + _Tuscul._, i. 48. 116; _id._, _De natura deorum_, iii. 19. 50; W. H. + Roscher, _Lexikon d. griech. und roem. Mythologie_, i. 1298 _sq._, + ii. 2794 _sq._ + + M152 Legend of Oedipus, who slew his father and married his mother. + Marriage with a widowed queen sometimes forms a legitimate title to + the kingdom. Marriage with a stepmother or a sister, a mode of + securing the succession of the king's own children, and so of + transferring the inheritance from the female to the male line. + Brother and sister marriages in royal families. + + 521 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, vol. ii. pp. 269 + _sqq._ + + 522 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, vol. ii. p. 283. The + Oedipus legend would conform still more closely to custom if we + could suppose that marriage with a mother was formerly allowed in + cases where the king had neither a sister nor a stepmother, by + marrying whom he could otherwise legalise his claim to the throne. + + 523 Examples of this custom are collected by me in a note on Pausanias, + i. 7. 1 (vol. ii. p. 85). For other instances see V. Noel, "Ile de + Madagascar, recherches sur les Sakkalava," _Bulletin de la Societe + de Geographie_ (Paris), Deuxieme Serie, xx. (Paris, 1843) pp. 63 + _sq._ (among the Sakkalavas of Madagascar); V. L. Cameron, _Across + Africa_ (London, 1877), ii. 70, 149; J. Roscoe, "Further Notes on + the Manners and Customs of the Baganda," _Journal of the + Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. (1902) p. 27 (among the Baganda + of Central Africa); J. G. Frazer, _Totemism and Exogamy_, ii. 523, + 538 (among the Banyoro and Bahima); J. Dos Santos, "Eastern + Ethiopia," in G. McCall Theal's _Records of South-Eastern Africa_, + vii. 191 (as to the kings of Sofala in eastern Africa). But Dos + Santos's statement is doubted by Dr. McCall Theal (_op. cit._ p. + 395). + + 524 This explanation of the custom was anticipated by McLennan: "Another + rule of chiefly succession, which has been mentioned, that which + gave the chiefship to a sister's son, appears to have been nullified + in some cases by an extraordinary but effective expedient--by the + chief, that is, marrying his own sister" (_The Patriarchal Theory, + based on the Papers of the late John Ferguson McLennan_, edited and + completed by Donald McLennan (London, 1885), p. 95). + + 525 Compare Cicero, _De natura deorum_, ii. 26. 66; [Plutarch], _De vita + et poesi Homeri_, ii. 96; Lactantius, _Divin. Inst._ i. 10; Firmicus + Maternus, _De errore profanarum religionum_, xii. 4. + + M153 Kings' sons sacrificed instead of their fathers. Substitution of + condemned criminals. + + 526 Porphyry, _De abstinentia_, ii. 54. + + M154 A custom of putting kings to death at short intervals might + extinguish the families from which the kings were drawn; but this + tendency would be no bar to the observance of the custom. Many races + have indulged in practices which tend directly to their extinction. + + 527 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 292 _sqq._ + +_ 528 See The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 269 _sqq._ + + 529 Men and women of the Khlysti sect in Russia abhor marriage; and in + the sect of the Skoptsi or Eunuchs the devotees mutilate themselves. + See Sir D. Mackenzie Wallace, _Russia_. (London [1877]), p. 302. As + to collective suicide, see above, pp. 43 _sqq._ + + 530 Above, p. 191. + + 531 Father Picarda, "Autour de Mandera, notes sur l'Ouzigowa, l'Oukwere + et l'Oudoe (Zanguebar)," _Missions Catholiques_, xviii. (1886) p. + 284. + +_ 532 The Strange Adventures of Andrew Battell_ (Hakluyt Society, 1901), + pp. 32, 84 _sq._ + + 533 F. de Azara, _Voyages dans l'Amerique Meridionale_ (Paris, 1809), + ii. 115-117. The writer affirms that the custom was universally + established among all the women of the Mbaya nation, as well as + among the women of other Indian nations. + + 534 R. Southey, _History of Brazil_, iii. (London, 1819) p. 385. + + 535 W. Barbrooke Grubb, _An Unknown People in an Unknown Land_ (London, + 1911), p. 233. + + 536 Hugh Goldie, _Calabar and its Mission_, new edition with additional + chapters by the Rev. John Taylor Dean (Edinburgh and London, 1901), + pp. 34 _sq._, 37 _sq._ The preface to the original edition of this + work is dated 1890. By this time the tribal suicide is probably + complete. + + M155 Transmission of the soul of the slain king to his successor. + Transmission of the souls of chiefs to their sons in Nias. + + 537 See above, pp. 21, 23, 26 _sq._ + + 538 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 410 _sqq._ + + 539 J. T. Nieuwenhuisen en H. C. B. von Rosenberg, "Verslag omtrent het + eiland Nias," _Verhandelingen van het Batav. Genootschap van Kunsten + en Wetenschappen_, xxx. (1863) p. 85; H. von Rosenberg, _Der + Malayische Archipel_, p. 160; L. N. H. A. Chatelin, "Godsdienst en + bijgeloof der Niassers," _Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Land- en + Volkenkunde_, xxvi. (1880) pp. 142 _sq._; H. Sundermann, "Die Insel + Nias und die Mission daselbst," _Allgemeine Missions-Zeitschrift_, + xi. (1884) p. 445; E. Modigliani, _Un Viaggio a Nias_, pp. 277, 479 + _sq._; _id._, _L'Isola delle Donne_ (Milan, 1894), p. 195. + + M156 Succession to the soul among the American Indians and other races. + + 540 Ch. Wilkes, _Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition_ + (London, 1845), iv. 453; _United States Exploring Expedition, + Ethnography and Philology_, by H. Hale (Philadelphia, 1846), p. 203. + + 541 Brasseur de Bourbourg, _Histoire des nations civilisees du Mexique + et de l'Amerique-Centrale_, ii. 574. + + 542 D. G. Brinton, _Myths of the New World_2 (New York, 1876), pp. 270 + _sq._ + +_ 543 Relations des Jesuites_, 1636, p. 130 (Canadian reprint, Quebec, + 1858). + + 544 A. Bastian, _Die Voelker des oestlichen Asien_, iv. 386. + + 545 Servius on Virgil, _Aen._ iv. 685; Cicero, _In Verr._ ii. 5. 45; K. + F. Hermann, _Lehrbuch der griechischen Privatalterthuemer_, ed. H. + Bluemner, p. 362, note 1. + + 546 J. Harland and T. T. Wilkinson, _Lancashire Folk-lore_ (London, + 1882), pp. 7 _sq._ + + M157 Succession to the soul in Africa. Inspired representatives of dead + kings in Africa. + +_ 547 The Travels of the Jesuits in Ethiopia_, collected and historically + digested by F. Balthazar Tellez (London, 1710), p. 198. + + 548 Ph. Paulitschke, _Ethnographie Nordost-Afrikas, die geistige Cultur + der Danakil, Galla und Somal_ (Berlin, 1896), p. 28. + + 549 This account I received from my friend the Rev. J. Roscoe in a + letter dated Mengo, Uganda, April 27, 1900. See his "Further Notes + on the Manners and Customs of the Baganda," _Journal of the + Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. (1902) pp. 42, 45 _sq._, where, + however, the account is in some points not quite so explicit. + + 550 J. Dos Santos, "Eastern Ethiopia," in G. McCall Theal's _Records of + South-eastern Africa_, vii. 196 _sq._ + + 551 See above, p. 35. + + 552 See _Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, pp. 423 _sqq._ + + M158 Right of succession to the kingdom conferred by possession of + personal relics of dead kings. Sometimes a king has to eat a portion + of his predecessor. + + 553 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 362 _sqq._ + + 554 A. Grandidier, "Madagascar," _Bull. de la Societe de Geographie_ + (Paris), VIeme Serie, iii. (1872) pp. 402 _sq._ + + 555 Nicolaus Damascenus, quoted by Stobaeus, _Florilegium_, cxxiii. 12 + (_Fragmenta historicorum Graecorum_, ed. C. Mueller, iii. 463). The + Issedones of Scythia used to gild the skulls of their dead fathers + and offer great sacrifices to them annually (Herodotus, iv. 26); + they also used the skulls as drinking-cups (Mela, ii. 1. 9). The + Boii of Cisalpine Gaul cut off the head of a Roman general whom they + had defeated, and having gilded the scalp they used it as a sacred + vessel for the pouring of libations, and the priests drank out of it + (Livy, xxiii. 24. 12). + + 556 Sir H. Johnston, _The Uganda Protectorate_ (London, 1902), ii. 828. + + 557 Missionary Holley, "Etude sur les Egbas," _Missions Catholiques_, + xiii. (1881) p. 353. The writer speaks of "_le roi d'Alakei_," but + this is probably a mistake or a misprint. As to the Alake or king of + Abeokuta, see Sir William Macgregor, "Lagos, Abeokuta, and the + Alake," _Journal of the African Society_, No. xii. (July, 1904) pp. + 471 _sq._ Some years ago the Alake visited England and I had the + honour of being presented to his Majesty by Sir William Macgregor at + Cambridge. + + 558 F. T. Valdez, _Six Years of a Traveller's Life in Western Africa_, + ii. 161 _sq._ + + 559 Missionary Holley, in _Annales de la Propagation de la Foi_, liv. + (1882) p. 87. The "King of Ake" mentioned by the writer is the Alake + or king of Abeokuta; for Ake is the principal quarter of Abeokuta, + and Alake means "Lord of Ake." See Sir William Macgregor, _l.c._ + + 560 Extracted from a letter of Mr. Harold G. Parsons, dated Lagos, + September 28th, 1903, and addressed to Mr. Theodore A. Cooke of 54 + Oakley Street, Chelsea, London, who was so kind as to send me the + letter with leave to make use of it. "It is usual for great chiefs + to report or announce their succession to the Oni of Ife, or to the + Alafin of Oyo, the intimation being accompanied by a present" (Sir + W. Macgregor, _l.c._). + + M159 Succession to the soul of the slain king or priest. + + 561 See above, pp. 23, 26 _sq._ Dr. E. Westermarck has suggested as an + alternative to the theory in the text, "that the new king is + supposed to inherit, not the predecessor's soul, but his divinity or + holiness, which is looked upon in the light of a mysterious entity, + temporarily seated in the ruling sovereign, but separable from him + and transferable to another individual." See his article, "The + Killing of the Divine King," _Man_, viii. (1908) pp. 22-24. There is + a good deal to be said in favour of Dr. Westermarck's theory, which + is supported in particular by the sanctity attributed to the + regalia. But on the whole I see no sufficient reason to abandon the + view adopted in the text, and I am confirmed in it by the Shilluk + evidence, which was unknown to Dr. Westermarck when he propounded + his theory. + + M160 The single combat of the King of the Wood at Nemi was probably a + mitigation of an older custom of putting him to death at the end of + a fixed period. + + 562 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 1 _sqq._, ii. 378 + _sqq._ + + 563 See above, pp. 21 _sq._, 27 _sq._ + + 564 See above, pp. 47 _sq._ + + M161 Custom of killing the human representatives of the tree-spirit. + M162 Bavarian customs of beheading the representatives of the tree-spirit + at Whitsuntide. + + 565 Fr. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Munich, 1848-1855), + i. 235 _sq._; W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_ (Berlin, 1875), pp. 320 + _sq._ In some villages of Lower Bavaria one of the _Pfingstl's_ + comrades carries "the May," which is a young birch-tree wreathed and + decorated. Another name for this Whitsuntide masker, both in Lower + and Upper Bavaria, is the Water-bird. Sometimes he carries a straw + effigy of a monstrous bird with a long neck and a wooden beak, which + is thrown into the water instead of the bearer. The wooden beak is + afterwards nailed to the ridge of a barn, which it is supposed to + protect against lightning and fire for a whole year, till the next + _Pfingstl_ makes his appearance. See _Bavaria, Landes- und + Volkskunde des Koenigreichs Bayern_, i. 375 _sq._, 1003 _sq._ In + Silesia the Whitsuntide mummer, called the _Rauchfiess_ or + _Raupfiess_, sometimes stands in a leafy arbour, which is mounted on + a cart and drawn about the village by four or six lads. They collect + gifts at the houses and finally throw the cart and the _Rauchfiess_ + into a shallow pool outside the village. This is called "driving out + the _Rauchfiess_." The custom used to be associated with the driving + out of the cattle at Whitsuntide to pasture on the dewy grass, which + was thought to make the cows yield plenty of milk. The herdsman who + was the last to drive out his beasts on the morning of the day + became the _Rauchfiess_ in the afternoon. See P. Drechsler, _Sitte, + Brauch und Volksglaube in Schlesien_, i. (Leipsic, 1903), pp. + 117-123. + + 566 E. Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebraeuche aus Schwaben_ + (Stuttgart, 1852), pp. 409-419; W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, pp. 349 + _sq._ + + M163 Killing the Wild Man in Saxony and Bohemia. + + 567 E. Sommer, _Sagen, Maerchen und Gebraeuche aus Sachsen und Thueringen_ + (Halle, 1846), pp. 154 _sq._; W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, pp. 335 + _sq._ + + 568 W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, p. 336. + + 569 Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus Boehmen_ (Prague, N.D., + preface dated 1861), p. 61; W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, pp. 336 + _sq._ + + M164 Beheading the King on Whit-Monday in Bohemia. + + 570 Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus Boehmen_, p. 263; W. + Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, p. 343. + + 571 Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus Boehmen_, pp. 269 _sq._ + + M165 Beheading the King on Whit-Monday in Bohemia. + +_ 572 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 86 _sq._ + + 573 Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus Boehmen_, pp. 264 _sq._; W. + Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, pp. 353 _sq._ + + M166 The leaf-clad mummers in these customs represent the tree-spirit or + spirit of vegetation. + + 574 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 73 _sqq._ + + 575 See pp. 208, 210. + +_ 576 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 247 _sqq._, 272 + _sqq._ + + M167 The tree-spirit is killed in order to prevent its decay and ensure + its revival in a vigorous successor. + + 577 See above, p. 208. + + M168 Resemblances between these North European customs and the rites of + Nemi. + + 578 Ovid, _Fasti_, iii. 271. + + 579 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 308 _sqq._ + + 580 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 20. + + M169 The mock killing of the leaf-clad mummers is probably a substitute + for an old custom of killing them in earnest. Substitution of mock + human sacrifices for real ones. + + 581 Caesar, _Bell. Gall._ vi. 16; Adam of Bremen, _Descriptio Insularum + Aquilonis_, 27 (Migne's _Patrologia Latina_, cxlvi. col. 644); Olaus + Magnus, _De gentium septrionalium variis conditionibus_, iii. 7; J. + Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 35 _sqq._; F. J. Mone, _Geschichte + des nordischen Heidenthums_, i. 69, 119, 120, 149, 187 _sq._ + + 582 H. J. Tendeloo, "Verklaring van het zoogenaamd Oud-Alfoersch + Teekenschrift," _Mededeelingen van wege het Nederlandsche + Zendelinggenootschap_, xxxvi. (1892) pp. 338 _sq._ + + 583 Sir H. Johnston, _The Uganda Protectorate_ (London, 1902), ii. 719 + _sq._ The writer describes the ceremony from the testimony of an + eye-witness. + + 584 J. G. Bourke, _Snake Dance of the Moquis of Arizona_, pp. 196 _sq._ + + 585 Euripides, _Iphigenia in Taur._ 1458 _sqq._ + + 586 J. T. Nieuwenhuisen en H. C. B. von Rosenberg, "Verslag omtrent het + eiland Nias," _Verhandelingen van het Batav. Genootschap van Kunsten + en Wetenschappen_, xxx. (1863) p. 43; E. Modigliani, _Un Viaggio a + Nias_ (Milan, 1890), pp. 282 _sq._ + + 587 J. A. Dubois, _Maeurs, institutions et ceremonies des peuples de + l'Inde_ (Paris, 1825), i. 151 _sq._ + + 588 E. Thurston, _Castes and Tribes of Southern India_ (Madras, 1909), + iv. 437, quoting Mr. A. R. Loftus-Tottenham. + + 589 G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 31 _sq._; compare pp. 38, 58, 59, 69 _sq._, + 72. + + M170 Mock human sacrifices carried out in effigy. + + 590 Porphyry, _De abstinentia_, ii. 55, citing Manetho as his authority. + + 591 "The Rudhiradhyaya, or sanguinary chapter," translated from the + _Calica Puran_ by W. C. Blaquiere, in _Asiatick Researches_, v. 376 + (8vo ed., London, 1807). + + 592 E. T. Dalton, _Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal_ (Calcutta, 1872), p. + 281. + + 593 E. T. Dalton, _op. cit._ pp. 258 _sq._ + + 594 Mgr. Bruguiere, in _Annales de l'Association de la Propagation de la + Foi_, v. (1831) p. 201. + + 595 B. C. A. J. van Dinter, "Eenige geographische en ethnographische + aanteekeningen betreffende het eiland Siaoe," _Tijdschrift voor + Indische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde_, xli. (1899) p. 379. + + 596 Ch. Hose and W. McDougall, "The Relations between Men and Animals in + Sarawak," _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxi. (1901) + p. 208. + + 597 W. G. Aston, _Shinto_ (London, 1905). pp. 56 _sq._ + + 598 A. C. Kruijt, "Eenige ethnografische aanteekeningen omtrent de + Toboengkoe en de Tomori," _Mededeelingen van wege het Nederlandsche + Zendelinggenootschap_, xliv. (1900) p. 222. + + M171 Mimic sacrifices of various kinds. Mimic sacrifices of fingers. + Mimic rite of circumcision. + + 599 E. Thurston, "Deformity and Mutilation," _Madras Government Museum, + Bulletin_, vol. iv. No. 3 (Madras, 1903), pp. 193-196. As to the + custom of sacrificing joints of fingers, see my note on Pausanias, + viii. 34. 2, vol. iv. pp. 354 _sqq._ To the evidence there adduced + add P. J. de Smet, _Western Missions and Missionaries_ (New York, + 1863), p. 135; G. B. Grinnell, _Blackfoot Lodge Tales_, pp. 194, + 258; A. d'Orbigny, _L'Homme americain_, ii. 24; J. Williams, + _Narrative of Missionary Enterprises in the South Sea Islands_, pp. + 470 _sq._; J. Mathew, _Eaglehawk and Crow_ (London and Melbourne, + 1899), p. 120; A. W. Howitt, _Native Tribes of South-East + Australia_, pp. 746 _sq._; L. Degrandpre, _Voyage a la cote + occidentale d'Afrique_ (Paris, 1801), ii. 93 _sq._; Dudley Kidd, + _The Essential Kaffir_, pp. 203, 262 _sq._; G. W. Stow, _Native + Races of South Africa_ (London, 1905), pp. 129, 152; _Lettres + edifiantes et curieuses_, Nouvelle Edition, ix. 369, xii. 371; + _Annales de la Propagation de la Foi_, xiii. (1841) p. 20; _id._, + xiv. (1842) pp. 68, 192; _id._, xvii. (1845) pp. 12, 13; _id._, + xviii. (1846) p. 6; _id._, xxiii. (1851) p. 314; _id._, xxxii. + (1860) pp. 95 _sq._; _Indian Antiquary_, xxiv. (1895) p. 303; + _Missions Catholiques_, xxix. (1897) p. 90; _Zeitschrift fuer + Ethnologie_, xxxii. (1900) p. 81. The objects of this mutilation + were various. In ancient Athens it was customary to cut off the hand + of a suicide and bury it apart from his body (Aeschines, _Contra + Ctesiph._ § 244, p. 193, ed. F. Franke), perhaps to prevent his + ghost from attacking the living. + + 600 Basil C. Thomson, _Savage Island_ (London, 1902), pp. 92 _sq._ + + 601 E. Thurston, _Ethnographic Notes in Southern India_ (Madras, 1906), + p. 390. + + M172 It has been customary to kill animal gods and corn gods as well as + tree-spirits. + M173 Customs of burying the Carnival and carrying out Death. + + 602 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 645; K. Haupt, _Sagenbuch der + Lausitz_, ii. 58; Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus Boehmen_, + pp. 86 _sq._; _id._, _Das festliche Jahr_, pp. 77 _sq._; _Bavaria, + Landes- und Volkskunde des Koenigreichs Bayern_, iii. 958 _sq._; + Sepp, _Die Religion der alten Deutschen_ (Munich, 1890), pp. 67 + _sq._; W. Mueller, _Beitraege zur Volkskunde der Deutschen in Maehren_ + (Vienna and Olmutz, 1893), pp. 258, 353. The fourth Sunday in Lent + is also known as Mid-Lent, because it falls in the middle of Lent, + or as _Laetare_ from the first word of the liturgy for that day. In + the Roman calendar it is the Sunday of the Rose (_Domenica rosae_), + because on that day the Pope consecrates a golden rose, which he + presents to some royal lady. In one German village of Transylvania + the Carrying out of Death takes place on Ascension Day. See below, + pp. 248 _sq._ + + M174 Effigy of the Carnival burnt at Frosinone in Latium. + + 603 G. Targioni-Tozzetti, _Saggio di novelline, canti ed usanze popolari + della Ciociaria_ (Palermo, 1891), pp. 89-95. At Palermo an effigy of + the Carnival (_Nannu_) was burnt at midnight on Shrove Tuesday 1878. + See G. Pitre, _Usi e costumi, credenze e pregiudizi del popolo + siciliano_, i. 117-119; G. Trede, _Das Heidentum in der roemischen + Kirche_, iii. 11, note. + + M175 Burying the Carnival in the Abruzzi. + + 604 A. de Nino, _Usi e costumi abruzzesi_, ii. 198-200. The writer omits + to mention the date of these celebrations. No doubt it is either + Shrove Tuesday or Ash Wednesday. Compare G. Finamore, _Credenze, usi + e costumi abruzzesi_ (Palermo, 1890), p. 111. In some parts of + Piedmont an effigy of Carnival is burnt on the evening of Shrove + Tuesday; in others they set fire to tall poplar trees, which, stript + of their branches and surmounted by banners, have been set up the + day before in public places. These trees go by the name of _Scarli_. + See G. di Giovanni, _Usi, credenze e pregiudizi del Canavese_ + (Palermo, 1889), pp. 161, 164 _sq._ For other accounts of the + ceremony of the death of the Carnival, represented either by a + puppet or a living person, in Italy and Sicily, see G. Pitre, _Usi e + costumi, credenze e pregiudizi del popolo siciliano_, i. 96-100; G. + Amalfi, _Tradizioni ed usi nella Penisola Sorrentina_ (Palermo, + 1890), pp. 40, 42. It has been rightly observed by Pitre (_op. cit._ + p. 96), that the personification of the Carnival is doubtless the + lineal descendant of some mythical personage of remote Greek and + Roman antiquity. + + 605 R. Wuensch, _Das Fruehlingsfest der Insel Malta_ (Leipsic, 1902), pp. + 29 _sq._, quoting Ciantar's supplements to Abelas's _Malta + illustrata_. + + M176 Burial of the Carnival at Lerida in Spain. + + 606 J. S. Campion, _On Foot in Spain_ (London, 1879), pp. 291-295. + + M177 Funeral of the Carnival in France. Execution of Shrove Tuesday in + the Ardennes and Franche-Comte. + + 607 A. de Nore, _Coutumes, mythes et traditions des provinces de France_ + (Paris and Lyons, 1846), pp. 37 _sq._ The name Caramantran is + thought to be compounded of _careme entrant_, "Lent entering." It is + said that the effigy of Caramantran is sometimes burnt (E. Cortet, + _Essai sur les fetes religieuses_, Paris, 1867, p. 107). + + 608 L. Pineau, _Folk-lore du Poitou_ (Paris, 1892), p. 493. + + 609 A. Meyrac, _Traditions, legendes et contes des Ardennes_ + (Charleville, 1890), p. 63. According to the writer, the custom of + burning an effigy of Shrove Tuesday or the Carnival is pretty + general in France. + + 610 Ch. Beauquier, _Les Mois en Franche-Comte_ (Paris, 1900), p. 30. In + Beauce and Perche the burning or burial of Shrove Tuesday used to be + represented in effigy, but the custom has now disappeared. See F. + Chapiseau, _Le Folk-lore de la Beauce et du Perche_ (Paris, 1902), + i. 320 _sq._ + + M178 Burial of Shrove Tuesday in Normandy. Burning Shrove Tuesday at + Saint-Lo. + + 611 J. Lecoeur, _Esquisses du Bocage Normand_ (Conde-sur-Noireau, + 1883-1887), ii. 148-150. + + 612 Madame Octave Feuillet, _Quelques annees de ma vie_5 (Paris, 1895), + pp. 59-61. + + M179 Burial of Shrove Tuesday or the Carnival in Brittany. + + 613 P. Sebillot, _Coutumes populaires de la Haute-Bretagne_ (Paris, + 1886), pp. 227 _sq._ + + 614 A. de Nore, _Coutumes, mythes et traditions des Provinces de + France_, p. 206. + + 615 P. Sebillot, _Le Folk-lore de France_, ii. (Paris, 1905) p. 170. + + 616 P. Sebillot, _l.c._ + + 617 J. L. M. Nogues, _Les Moeurs d'autrefois en Saintonge et en Aunis_ + (Saintes, 1891), p. 60. As to the trial and condemnation of the + Carnival on Ash Wednesday in France, see further Berenger-Feraud, + _Superstitions et survivances_, iv. 52 _sq._ + + 618 T. F. Thiselton Dyer, _British Popular Customs_ (London, 1876), p. + 93. + + M180 Burying the Carnival in Germany and Austria. + + 619 See above, p. 209. + + 620 E. Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebraeuche aus Schwaben_, p. + 371. + + 621 J. Haltrich, _Zur Volkskunde der Siebenbuerger Sachsen_ (Vienna, + 1885), pp. 284 _sq._ + + 622 K. von Leoprechting, _Aus dem Lechrain_, pp. 162 _sqq._; W. + Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, p. 411. + + 623 E. Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebraeuche aus Schwaben_, p. + 374; compare A. Birlinger, _Volksthuemliches aus Schwaben_ (Freiburg + im Breisgau, 1861-1862), ii. pp. 54 _sq._, § 71. + + 624 E. Meier, _op. cit._ p. 372. + + 625 E. Meier, _op. cit._ p. 373. + + 626 E. Meier, _op. cit._ pp. 373, 374. + + 627 A. Kuhn, _Sagen, Gebraeuche und Maerchen aus Westfalen_ (Leipsic, + 1859), ii. p. 130, § 393. + + M181 Burning the Carnival in Greece. Esthonian custom on Shrove Tuesday. + +_ 628 Folk-lore_, vi. (1895) p. 206. + + 629 F. J. Wiedemann, _Aus dem inneren und aeusseren Leben der Ehsten_ + (St. Petersburg, 1876), p. 353. + + M182 Resurrection enacted in these ceremonies. + + 630 E. Meier, _op. cit._ p. 374. + + 631 H. Proehle, _Harzbilder_ (Leipsic, 1855), p. 54. + + M183 Carrying out Death in Bavaria. + +_ 632 Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des Koenigreichs Bayern_, iii. 958. + + 633 J. Boemus, _Omnium gentium mores, leges, et ritus_ (Paris, 1538), p. + 83. + +_ 634 Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des Koenigreichs Bayern_, iii. 958. + + 635 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 639 _sq._; W. Mannhardt, + _Baumkultus_, p. 412. + + 636 Sepp, _Die Religion der alten Deutschen_ (Munich, 1876), p. 67. + + 637 Fr. Kauffmann, _Balder_ (Strasburg, 1902), p. 283. + + M184 Carrying out Death in Thueringen. + + 638 Aug. Witzschel, _Sagen, Sitten und Gebraeuche aus Thueringen_ (Vienna, + 1878), p. 193. + + 639 A. Witzschel, _op. cit._ p. 199; J. A. E. Koehler, _Volksbrauch, + Aberglauben, Sagen und andre alte Ueberlieferungen im Voigtlande_ + (Leipsic, 1867), pp. 171 _sq._ + + 640 Fr. Kauffmann, _Balder_ (Strasburg, 1902), p. 283 note, quoting J. + K. Zeumer, _Laetare vulgo Todten Sonntag_ (Jena, 1701), pp. 20 + _sqq._; J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 640 _sq._ The words of + the song are given as "_So treiben wir den todten auss_," but this + must be a mistake for "_So treiben wir den Tod hinaus_," as the line + is given by P. Drechsler (_Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube in + Schlesien_, i. 66). In the passage quoted the effigy is spoken of as + "_mortis larva_." + + 641 Zacharias Schneider, _Leipziger Chronik_, iv. 143, cited by K. + Schwenk, _Die Mythologie der Slaven_ (Frankfort, 1853), pp. 217 + _sq._, and Fr. Kauffmann, _Balder_, pp. 284 _sq._ + + M185 Carrying out Death in Silesia. + + 642 P. Drechsler, _Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube in Schlesien_, i. + 65-71. Compare A. Peter, _Volksthuemliches aus + Oesterreichisch-Schlesien_ (Troppau, 1865-1867), ii. 281 _sq._ + + 643 F. Tetzner, "Die Tschechen und Maehrer in Schlesien," _Globus_, + lxxviii. (1900) p. 340. + + M186 Carrying out Death in Bohemia. + + 644 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 642. + + 645 Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus Boehmen_, pp. 90 _sq._ + +_ 646 Ibid._ p. 91. + + M187 Carrying out Death in Moravia. + + 647 W. Mueller, _Beitraege zur Volkskunde der Deutschen in Maehren_ (Vienna + and Olmuetz, 1893), pp. 353-355. + + M188 The effigy of Death feared and abhorred. + + 648 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 644; K. Haupt, _Sagenbuch der + Lausitz_ (Leipsic, 1862-1863), ii. 55; P. Drechsler, _Sitte, Branch + und Volksglaube in Schlesien_, i. 70 _sq._ + + 649 J. Grimm, _op. cit._ ii. 640, 643; P. Drechsler, _op. cit._ i. 70. + See also above, p. 236. + + 650 Th. Vernaleken, _Mythen und Braeuche des Volkes in Oesterreich_ + (Vienna, 1859), pp. 294 _sq._; Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender + aus Boehmen_, p. 90. + + 651 See above, p. 236. + + 652 See above, pp. 234, 235, 236, 237. + + 653 Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, _Das festliche Jahr_ (Leipsic, 1863), p. 80. + + 654 W. R. S. Ralston, _Songs of the Russian People_ (London, 1872), p. + 211. + +_ 655 Ibid._ p. 210. + + M189 Sawing the Old Woman at Mid-Lent in Italy. + + 656 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 652; H. Usener, "Italische + Mythen," _Rheinisches Museum_, N.F., xxx. (1875) pp. 191 _sq._ + + 657 G. Pitre, _Spettacoli e feste popolari siciliane_ (Palermo, 1881), + pp. 207 _sq._, _id._, _Usi e costumi, credenze e pregiudizi del + popolo siciliano_, i. 107 _sq._ + +_ 658 Archivio per lo studio delle tradizioni popolari_, iv. (1885) pp. + 294 _sq._ + + 659 H. Usener, _op. cit._ p. 193. + + 660 Vincenzo Dorsa, _La Tradizione greco-latina negli usi e nelle + credenze popolari della Calabria citeriore_ (Cosenza, 1884), pp. 43 + _sq._ + + 661 E. Martinengo-Cesaresco, in _The Academy_, No. 671, March 14, 1885, + p. 188. + + M190 Sawing the Old Woman at Mid-Lent in France. + + 662 Laisnel de la Salle, _Croyances et legendes du centre de la France_ + (Paris, 1875), i. 43 _sq._ + + M191 Sawing the Old Woman at Mid-Lent in Spain and among the Slavs. + + 663 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 652; H. Usener, "Italische + Mythen," _Rheinisches Museum_, N.F., xxx. (1875) pp. 191 _sq._ + + 664 E. Hoffmann-Krayer, "Fruchtbarkeitsriten im schweizerischen + Volksbrauch," _Schweizerisches Archiv fuer Volkskunde_, xi. (1903) p. + 239. + + M192 Sawing the Old Woman on Palm Sunday among the gypsies. + + 665 H. von Wlislocki, _Volksglaube und religioeser Brauch der Zigeuner_ + (Muenster i. W., 1891), pp. 145 _sq._ + + M193 Seven-legged effigies of Lent in Spain. + + 666 E. Cortet, _Essai sur les fetes religieuses_ (Paris, 1867), pp. 107 + _sq._; Laisnel de la Salle, _Croyances et legendes du centre de la + France_, i. 45 _sq._ A similar custom appears to be observed in + Minorca. See _Globus_, lix. (1891) pp. 279, 280. + + M194 Seven-legged effigies of Lent in Italy. + + 667 A. de Nino, _Usi e costumi abruzzesi_, ii. 203-205 (Florence, 1881); + G. Finamore, _Credenze, usi e costumi abruzzesi_ (Palermo, 1890), + pp. 112, 114. + + 668 G. Amalfi, _Tradizioni ed usi nella Penisola Sorrentina_ (Palermo, + 1890), p. 41. + + 669 Lucy E. Broadwood, in _Folk-lore_, iv. (1893) p. 390. + + M195 The custom of carrying out Death is often followed by the ceremony + of bringing in Summer, in which the Summer is represented by a tree + or branches. + + 670 Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus Boehmen_, pp. 89 _sq._; W. + Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, p. 156. This custom has been already + referred to. See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 73 + _sq._ + + 671 P. Drechsler, _Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube in Schlesien_, i. 71 + _sqq._; Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, _Das festliche Jahr_, p. 82; Philo + vom Walde, _Schlesien in Sage und Brauch_ (Berlin, N.D., preface + dated 1883), p. 122. + + 672 A. Witzschel, _Sagen, Sitten und Gebraeuche aus Thueringen_, pp. 192 + _sq._; compare pp. 297 _sqq._ + + 673 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 643 _sq._; K. Haupt, + _Sagenbuch der Lausitz_, ii. 54 _sq._; W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, + pp. 412 _sq._; W. R. S. Ralston, _Songs of the Russian People_, p. + 211. + + M196 New potency of life ascribed to the image of Death. Carrying out + Death at Braller in Transylvania. + + 674 J. Grimm, _op. cit._ ii. 644; K. Haupt, _op. cit._ ii. 55. + + 675 J. K. Schuller, _Das Todaustragen und der Muorlef, ein Beitrag zur + Kunde saechsischer Sitte und Sage in Siebenbuergen_ (Hermannstadt, + 1861), pp. 4 _sq._ The description of this ceremony by Miss E. + Gerard (_The Land beyond the Forest_, ii. 47-49) is plainly borrowed + from Mr. Schuller's little work. + + 676 W. Mueller, _Beitraege zur Volkskunde der Deutschen in Maehren_ (Vienna + and Olmuetz, 1893), pp. 258 _sq._ + + M197 Life-giving virtue ascribed to the effigy of Death. + + 677 P. 247. + + 678 This is also the view taken of the custom by W. Mannhardt, + _Baumkultus_, p. 419. + + 679 Th. Vernaleken, _Mythen und Braeuche des Volkes in Oesterreich_, pp. + 293 _sq._ + + 680 Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, _Das festliche Jahr_, p. 82. + + 681 Philo vom Walde, _Schlesien in Sage und Brauch_, p. 122; P. + Drechsler, _Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube in Schlesien_, i. 74. + + 682 See above, p. 236. + + 683 See above, pp. 239 _sq._ + + 684 See above, p. 236. + + M198 The Summer-tree equivalent to the May-tree. But the Summer-tree is a + revival of the image of Death; hence the image of Death must be an + embodiment of the spirit of vegetation. + + 685 Above, p. 246. + + 686 Above, p. 246. + + 687 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 73 _sqq._ + + 688 Above, p. 246, and J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 644; + Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus Boehmen_, pp. 87 _sq._ + + 689 Above, p. 246. + + 690 See above, pp. 250 _sq._ + + 691 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 45 _sqq._ + + 692 Above, pp. 234, 235, 240, 248, 250; and J. Grimm, _Deutsche + Mythologie_,4 ii. 643. + + 693 Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus Boehmen_, p. 88. Sometimes + the effigy of Death (without a tree) is carried round by boys who + collect gratuities (J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 644). + + 694 Above, p. 208. + + 695 Above, p. 231. + + 696 F. J. Wiedemann, _Aus dem inneren und aeusseren Leben der Ehsten_, p. + 353; Holzmayer, "Osiliana," in _Verhandlungen der gelehrten + Estnischen Gesellschaft zu Dorpat_, vii. Heft 2, pp. 10 _sq._; W. + Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, pp. 407 _sq._ + + M199 The names of Carnival, Death, and Summer in the preceding customs + seem to cover an ancient tree-spirit or spirit of vegetation. + + 697 W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, pp. 417-421. + + M200 Dramatic contests between representatives of Summer and Winter. + + 698 Olaus Magnus, _De gentium septentrionalium variis conditionibus_, + xv. 8 _sq._ In _Le Temps_, No. 15,669, May 11, 1902, p. 2, there is + a description of this ceremony as it used to be performed in + Stockholm. The description seems to be borrowed from Olaus Magnus. + + 699 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 637-639; _Bavaria, Landes- und + Volkskunde des Koenigreichs Bayern_, iv. 2, pp. 357 _sq._ See also E. + Krause, "Das Sommertags-Fest in Heidelberg," _Verhandlungen der + Berliner Gesellschaft fuer Anthropologie_, 1895, p. (145); A. + Dieterich, "Sommertag," _Archiv fuer Religionswissenschaft_, viii. + (1905) Beiheft, pp. 82 _sqq._ + +_ 700 Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des Koenigreichs Bayern_, i. 369 + _sq._ + +_ 701 Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des Koenigreichs Bayern_, ii. 259 + _sq._; F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_, i. pp. + 253-256; K. von Leoprechting, _Aus dem Lechrain_, pp. 167 _sq._ A + dialogue in verse between representatives of Winter and Summer is + spoken at Hartlieb in Silesia, near Breslau. See _Zeitschrift des + Vereins fuer Volkskunde_, iii. (1893) pp. 226-228. + + M201 Dramatic contests between representatives of Summer and Winter. + + 702 Th. Vernaleken, _Mythen und Braeuche des Voelkes in Oesterreich_, pp. + 297 _sq._ + + 703 R. Andree, _Braunschweiger Volkskunde_ (Brunswick, 1896), p. 250. + + 704 W. Mueller, _Beitraege zur Volkskunde der Deutschen in Maehren_, pp. + 430-436. + + 705 W. Mueller, _op. cit._ p. 259. + + M202 Queen of Winter and Queen of May in the Isle of Man. + + 706 J. Train, _Historical and Statistical Account of the Isle of Man_ + (Douglas, Isle of Man, 1845), ii. 118-120. It has been suggested + that the name Maceboard may be a corruption of May-sports. + + M203 Contests between representatives of Summer and Winter among the + Esquimaux. Canadian Indians drove away Winter with burning brands. + + 707 Fr. Boas, "The Central Eskimo," _Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau + of Ethnology_ (Washington, 1888), p. 605. The account of this custom + given by Captain J. S. Mutch is as follows: "The people take a long + rope, the ends of which are tied together. They arrange themselves + so that those born during the summer stand close to the water, and + those born in the winter stand inland; and then they pull at the + rope to see whether summer or winter is the stronger. If winter + should win, there will be plenty of food; if summer should win, + there will be a bad winter." See Fr. Boas, "The Eskimo of Baffin + Land and Hudson Bay," _Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural + History_, xv. (1901) pp. 140 _sq._ At Memphis in Egypt there were + two statues in front of the temple of Hephaestus (Ptah), of which + the more northern was popularly called Summer and the more southern + Winter. The people worshipped the image of Summer and execrated the + image of Winter. It has been suggested that the two statues + represented Osiris and Typhon, the good and the bad god. See + Herodotus, ii. 121, with the notes of Baehr and Wiedemann. + +_ 708 Relations des Jesuites_, 1636, p. 38 (Canadian reprint, Quebec, + 1858). + + M204 The burning of Winter at Zurich. + + 709 H. Herzog, _Schweizerische Volksfeste, Sitten und Gebraeuche_ (Aurau, + 1884), pp. 164-166; W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, pp. 498 _sq._ + + 710 Letter to me of Dr. J. S. Black, dated Lauriston Cottage, Wimbledon + Common, 28th May, 1903. In a subsequent letter (dated 9th June, + 1903) Dr. Black enclosed some bibliographical references to the + custom which were kindly furnished to him by Professor P. Schmiedel + of Zurich, who speaks of the effigy as a representative of Winter. + It is not expressly so called by H. Herzog and W. Mannhardt. See the + preceding note. + + M205 Funeral of Kostrubonko, Kostroma, Kupalo, and Yarilo in Russia. + + 711 W. R. S. Ralston, _Songs of the Russian People_, p. 221. + + 712 W. R. S. Ralston, _Songs of the Russian People_, p. 241. + + 713 W. R. S. Ralston, _op. cit._ pp. 243 _sq._; W. Mannhardt, + _Baumkultus_, p. 414. + + 714 W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, pp. 414 _sq._; W. R. S. Ralston, _op. + cit._ p. 244. + + 715 W. R. S. Ralston, _op. cit._ p. 245; W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, p. + 416. + + 716 W. Mannhardt, _l.c._; W. R. S. Ralston, _l.c._ + + M206 The Russian Kostrubonko, Yarilo, and so on, were probably at first + spirits of vegetation dying and coming to life again. + M207 In these ceremonies grief and gladness, love and hatred appear to be + curiously combined. + M208 Expulsion of Death sometimes enacted without an effigy. + + 717 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 644. + + 718 J. G. von Hahn, _Albanesische Studien_ (Jena, 1854), i. 160. + + M209 Images of Siva and Parvati married, drowned, and mourned for in + India. + + 719 R. C. Temple, in _Indian Antiquary_, xi. (1882) pp. 297 _sq._ + + M210 In this Indian custom Siva and Parvati seem to be the equivalents of + the King and Queen of May. + + 720 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 84 _sqq._ + + 721 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 45 _sqq._ + + M211 The foregoing customs were originally rites intended to ensure the + revival of nature in spring by means of imitative magic. Feelings + with which the primitive savage may have regarded the changes of the + seasons. + + 722 When the Kurnai of Victoria saw the Aurora Australis, which + corresponds to the Northern Streamers of Europe, they exchanged + wives for the day and swung the severed hand of a dead man towards + it, shouting, "Send it away! do not let it burn us up!" See A. W. + Howitt, "On some Australian Beliefs," _Journal of the + Anthropological Institute_, xiii. (1884) p. 189; _id._, _Native + Tribes of South-East Australia_, pp. 276 sq., 430. + + M212 In modern Europe the old magical rites for the revival of nature in + spring have degenerated into mere pageants and pastimes. + + 723 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 242 _sq._ + + M213 Parallel to the spring customs of Europe in the magical rites of the + Central Australian aborigines. + + 724 Spencer and Gillen, _Native Tribes of Central Australia_, pp. 4 + _sq._, 170. + + 725 Spencer and Gillen, _op. cit._ p. 170. For a description of some of + these ceremonies see _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. + 85 _sqq._ + + M214 Letter of Mr. M. W. Lampson. + M215 Lord Avebury's statement. + + 726 Lord Avebury, _Origin of Civilisation_,5 pp. 378 _sq._; compare + _id._, _Prehistoric Times_,5 p. 561. + + M216 Opinions of various authorities. + M217 Substitutes for corporal punishment in China. + + 727 De Guignes, _Voyages a Peking, Manille et l'Ile de France_, iii. + (Paris, 1808) pp. 114 _sq._ + + M218 The custom of swinging practised for various reasons. Swinging at + harvest. + + 728 Above, pp. 156 _sq._ + + 729 B. F. Matthes, _Einige Eigenthumlichkeiten in den Festen und + Gewohnheiten der Makassaren und Buginesen_ (Leyden, 1884), p. 1; + _id._, "Over de ada's of gewoonten der Makassaren en Boegineezen," + _Verslagen en Mededeelingen der koninklijke Akademie van + Wetenschappen_, Afdeeling Letterkunde, Derde Reeks, Tweede Deel + (Amsterdam, 1885), pp. 169 _sq._ + + 730 H. A. Oldfield, _Sketches from Nipal_ (London, 1880), ii. 351. + + 731 Spenser St. John, _Life in the Forests of the Far East_,2 i. 194 + _sq._ + + 732 Ch. Brooke, _Ten Years in Sarawak_, ii. 226 _sq._ + + M219 Swinging for fish and game. + + 733 J. S. G. Gramberg, "De Troeboekvisscherij," _Tijdschrift voor + Indische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde_, xxiv. (1887) pp. 314 _sq._ + + 734 E. Petitot, _Monographie des Dene-Dindjie_ (Paris, 1876), p. 38. The + same ceremony is performed, oddly enough, to procure the death of an + enemy. + + M220 Indian custom of swinging on hooks. Swinging in the rainy season. + Swinging in honour of Krishna. Esthonian custom of swinging at the + summer solstice. + + 735 Hamilton's "Account of the East Indies," in Pinkerton's _Voyages and + Travels_, viii. 360 _sq._ In general we are merely told that these + Indian devotees swing on hooks in fulfilment of a vow or to obtain + some favour of a deity. See Duarte Barbosa, _Description of the + Coasts of East Africa and Malabar in the beginning of the Sixteenth + Century_, translated by the Hon. H. E. J. Stanley (Hakluyt Society, + London, 1866), pp. 95 _sq._; Gaspar Balbi's "Voyage to Pegu," in + Pinkerton's _Voyages and Travels_, ix. 398; Sonnerat, _Voyage aux + Indes orientales et a la Chine_, i. 244; S. Mateer, _The Land of + Charity_, p. 220; W. W. Hunter, _Annals of Rural Bengal_,5 p. 463; + _North Indian Notes and Queries_, i. p. 76, § 511. + + 736 V. Ball, _Jungle Life in India_ (London, 1880), p. 232. + + 737 W. W. Hunter, _Annals of Rural Bengal_5 (London, 1872), p. 463. + + 738 G. W. Leitner, _The Languages and Races of Dardistan_ (Lahore, + 1878), p. 12. + + 739 Sarat Chandra Mitra, "Notes on two Behari Pastimes," _Journal of the + Anthropological Society of Bombay_, iii. 95 _sq._ + + 740 H. H. Wilson, "The Religious Festivals of the Hindus," _Journal of + the Royal Asiatic Society_, ix. (1848) p. 98. Compare E. T. Dalton, + _Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal_, p. 314; Monier Williams, + _Religious Life and Thought in India_, p. 137; W. Crooke, "The + Legends of Krishna," _Folk-lore_, xi. (1900) pp. 21 _sqq._ + +_ 741 The Hymns of the Rigveda_, vii. 87. 5 (vol. iii. p. 108 of R. T. H. + Griffith's translation, Benares, 1891); H. Oldenberg, _Die Religion + des Veda_, pp. 444 _sq._ + + 742 J. G. Kohl, _Die deutsch-russischen Ostseeprovinzen_ (Dresden and + Leipsic, 1841), ii. 268 _sqq._ + + 743 L. v. Schroeder, "Lihgo (Refrain der lettischen Sonnwendlieder)," + _Mitteilungen der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien_, xxxii. + (1902) pp. 1-11. + + M221 Swinging for inspiration. + + 744 S. W. Tromp, "Uit de Salasila van Koetei," _Bijdragen tot de Taal- + Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indie_, xxxvii. (1888) pp. + 87-89. + + M222 Swinging as a cure for sickness. + + 745 J. Perham, "Manangism in Borneo," _Journal of the Straits Branch of + the Royal Asiatic Society_, No. 19 (Singapore, 1887), pp. 97 _sq._; + E. H. Gomes, _Seventeen Years among the Sea Dyaks of Borneo_ + (London, 1911), pp. 169, 170, 171; H. Ling Roth, _The Natives of + Sarawak and British North Borneo_, i. 279. + + 746 C. Bock, _The Head-hunters of Borneo_ (London, 1881), pp. 110-112. + + M223 Athenian festival of swinging. + + 747 Hyginus, _Astronomica_, ii. 4, pp. 34 _sqq._, ed. Bunte; _id._, + _Fabulae_, 130; Servius and Probus on Virgil, _Georg._ ii. 389; + Festus, _s.v._ "Oscillantes," p. 194, ed. C. O. Mueller; Athenaeus, + xiv. 10, p. 618 E F; Pollux, iv. 55; Hesychius, _s.vv._ {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} and + {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}; _Etymologicum magnum_, _s.v._ {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}, p. 42. 3; Schol. on + Homer, _Iliad_, xxii. 29. The story of the murder of Icarius is told + by a scholiast on Lucian (_Dial. meretr._ vii. 4) to explain the + origin of a different festival (_Rheinisches Museum_, N.F., xxv. + (1870) pp. 557 _sqq._; _Scholia in Lucianum_, ed. H. Rabe, p. 280). + As to the swinging festival at Athens see O. Jahn, _Archaeologische + Beitraege_, pp. 324 _sq._; Daremberg et Saglio, _Dictionnaire des + antiquites grecques et romaines_, _s.v._ "Aiora"; Miss J. E. + Harrison, in _Mythology and Monuments of Ancient Athens_, by Mrs. + Verrall and Miss J. E. Harrison, pp. xxxix. _sqq._ + + M224 Swinging as a mode of expiation and purification. + + 748 Servius on Virgil, _Aen._ xii. 603: "_Et Varro ait: Suspendiosis + quibus iusta fieri ius non sit, suspensis oscillis veluti per + imitationem mortis parentari._" + + 749 Servius on Virgil, _Georg._ ii. 389; _id._, on _Aen._ vi. 741. + + 750 Spencer and Gillen, _Native Tribes of Central Australia_, pp. 505 + _sq._ + + 751 Festus, _s.v._ "Oscillantes," p. 194, ed. C. O. Mueller. This + festival and its origin are also alluded to in a passage of one of + the manuscripts of Servius (on Virgil, _Georg._ ii. 389), which is + printed by Lion in his edition of Servius (vol. ii. 254, note), but + not by Thilo and Hagen in their large critical edition of the old + Virgilian commentator. "In _Schol. Bob._ p. 256 we are told that + there was a reminiscence of the fact that, the bodies of Latinus and + Aeneas being undiscoverable, their _animae_ were sought in the air" + (G. E. M. Marindin, _s.v._ "Oscilla," W. Smith's _Dictionary of + Greek and Roman Antiquities_,3 ii. 304). + + M225 Swinging to promote the growth of plants. + + 752 Hyginus, _Fab._ 130. + + 753 Probus on Virgil, _Georg._ ii. 385. + + 754 Virgil, _Georg._ ii. 388 _sqq._ + + 755 See above, p. 157. + + M226 Swinging as a festal rite in modern Greece and Italy. + + 756 W. G. Clark, _Peloponnesus_ (London, 1858), p. 274. + + 757 J. T. Bent, _The Cyclades_ (London, 1885), p. 5. + + 758 J. T. Bent, quoted by Miss J. E. Harrison, _Mythology and Monuments + of Ancient Athens_, p. xliii. + + 759 Vincenzo Dorsa, _La Tradizione greco-latina negli usi e nelle + credenze popolari della Calabria Citeriore_ (Cosenza, 1884), p. 36. + In one village the custom is observed on Ascension Day instead of at + Christmas. + + 760 Valdes, _Los Majos de Cadiz_, extract sent to me in the original + Spanish by Mr. W. Moss, of 21 Abbey Grove, Bolton, March 23rd, 1907. + + M227 Swinging at festivals in spring. + + 761 E. Doutte, _Magie et religion dans l'Afrique du nord_ (Algiers, + 1908), pp. 580 _sq._ + + 762 W. W. Rockhill, "Notes on some of the Laws, Customs, and + Superstitions of Korea," _American Anthropologist_, iv. (1891) pp. + 185 _sq._ + + 763 Pausanias, v. 1. 4. + + 764 Pausanias, vi. 20. 9. + +_ 765 Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, pp. 88 _sq._ + + 766 J. L. van Hasselt, "Aanteekeningen aangaande de gewoonten der + Papoeas in de Dorebaai, ten opzichte van zwangerschap en geboorte," + _Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde_, xliii. + (1901) p. 566. + + 767 J. H. Letteboer, "Eenige aanteekeningen omtrent de gebruiken bij + zwangerschap en geboorte onder de Savuneezen," _Mededeelingen van + wege het Nederlandsche Zendelinggenootschap_, xlvi. (1902) p. 45. + + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GOLDEN BOUGH (THIRD EDITION, VOL. 4 OF 12)*** + + + +CREDITS + + +December 6, 2012 + + Project Gutenberg TEI edition 1 + Produced by David Edwards, David King, and the Online + Distributed Proofreading Team at <http://www.pgdp.net/>. 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